Rating: 
Summary: Great Product Ruined By Lack Of Support...
Review: I've been using it for around a year. It's (...) not a cheap package.It works well if you do the hours and hours of reading supplied, to train the speech engine to your voice. The more you invest in terms of time taken to make and record corrections, and read the supplied texts, the better it is. Over time, you will invest HOURS AND HOURS of time, to tailor the files to YOUR voice! NOW HERE'S THE KICKER, BE WARNED! I upgraded my machine, and found to my horror, that my personal speech files, which were extensive and built up over many months, could not be transferred to my new machine. I tried some 'dodges' like replacing the user files on the new installation with my old ones, but the program will not allow this, its too clever for me! Oh well. Off I went again, hours of reading & corrections! Two months later, and I've just about got it all configured so that we work well together, and the program returns an error, and 'locks' me out! Using the disks, I ran the repair program. No luck. There is a facility to wipe the program & save the speech files (But not transfer them to another machine!!) and this I did, and again, there was a problem. I set about contacting technical support. All of the UK phone numbers are discontinued. I phoned Spain, the only other number evident, Left a message and had no reply. I then E-mailed support, and with over a week passed, I have given up. Look at their website before you buy this product. It is a typically corporate website that sings its own praises, but offers nothing to the end user. No support, no upgrades. I will never buy another Lernout & Hauspie product after this experience.
Rating: 
Summary: This software is a Lifesaver!!!
Review: I've had surgery on both arms and developed RDS in my right arm. I have been unable to use the computer until I got Dragon Preferred. This software is a Lifesaver!!! I was very skeptical at first even though my doctor suggested it. I had the box sitting here for a week and then I started using it last night and I couldn't believe my eyes. For someone who is disabled, this is incredible. I know that the program will have to get used to my way of saying words, but I don't even have to touch the keyboard to make corrections. I even surfed the web by voice and it works with MSN Messenger. I feel like I have my life back. All I can say is Thank You!!! Nothing is perfect, but this is close.
Rating: 
Summary: Typing is faster
Review: It does a fair job of recognizing simple text, but dictating an article out of, for example, the New York Times, stumps the program. Typing it, unfortunately, is much faster.
Rating: 
Summary: After years of trying, a highly useful tool!
Review: Like several other reviews, I have used previous version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I found this version to be superior in recognition to the others directly out of the box! You need to be diligent in correcting it, but if you are, it will improve. I find that most of the time when I have to correct something, the correct text is in the first 4 items in the correction box.
I find it is best to use it at times when you need to deal with a whole load of text; it is indeed too much work to use to dictate a word here and there. I find it easier to use it for dictation only and mostly operate the computer using my mouse.
Here are some tips:
- Dictate a phrase at a time, between 4 and 10 words, then pause for recognition.
- Check your words as they are recognized in the little floating window, so you know whether or not you need to correct as you go.
- Correcting something other than the last thing you said is problematic in applications other than the "supported" ones listed... but correcting the last thing you said works in most applications.
- If you're getting a lot of stray a's and the's in your documents, you may be breathing on the microphone. Move it to the side of your mouth and make sure your lips don't touch it when you talk.
- If you have a regional or ethnic accent, you may want to try a different base engine than the standard one. With this version, you have several to choose from. The standard version is very good for folks whose pronunciation doesn't differ much from the "evening news" type of American accent. Remember, this product was developed in Newton, Massachusetts.
- Don't believe that you will never need a keyboard or mouse again. What this product will do is to free your hands from bulk data entry, not from ALL keyboard use. It's pretty unpleasant to try to make corrections where it didn't offer you the correct one without using the keyboard.
- Make sure you have a fast processor and lots of RAM. The minimum system requirements don't give you a good user experience. I recommend at least a 500mhz Pentium II (or equivalent) and 256meg of RAM.
- It works VERY well in Microsoft Word, doing almost everything that it does in DragonPad. It's not bad in most places in America Online, unless you're using PowerTools. (It gets very slow in the chat window in that case.) To sum up: with this version, I belive that NaturallySpeaking is good enough for folks who just don't like to type to use. It is a godsend for those of use with Repetitive Stress Injuries. It is WONDERFUL to use when transcribing notes or working from items I want to hold in my hands as I type. I hope that it will continue to improve, even in the light of all the recent mergers and aquisitions. It would be a shame for this fine product to disappear from the world.
Rating:
Summary: Read Special offer
Review: Make sure you go to the "Special Offers" page. It turns out
you are only eligible for the offer if you already own NAV or
a competitor's product. If you're a new user you're paying
full price.
Rating:
Summary: Good product, requires a fast computer
Review: Pros:
- for the most part, very accurate (for me the accuracy is about 90% initially, but the mistakes are usually close to the words I say)
- allows me to get my ideas down quickly
- Fun
- Improves speaking and thinking skills considerably Cons:
-With my 300mHz processor/190megs RAM, I can only run a few applications with this program without the VR speed/accuracy decreasing considerably
-If I have the program running too long, the accuracy decreases
- Integration with MSWord is a little questionable; when you use the "correct that" command in MSWord to edit a block of text, sometimes it recognizes your command as "correct "that"" - in other words, understanding how commands function takes getting used to Overall I am quite satisfied. The program takes getting used to, but when my hand problems make typing difficult for me, it makes an excellent substitute, and I know several people who type exclusively using this program.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good but the new version 7.0 is much better
Review: The Dragon 5.0 is good but the new 7.0 version is EXCELLENT and is the way to go if you want to optimize your money.Dragon 7.0 is very accurate and has more speech capabilites.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This review is written using the program. Easy to use and solves a lot of problems for a dyslexic person. I feel that a whole New World has opened up. I will take full advantage of the wonderful opportunity now open to me. Until we can understand each other I am sure we will have small problems. I have only been using this program for thirty minutes, already I am totally impressed! Work with it that it will work with you. I can now write longer e-mails and perhaps even a novel. Thank you Dragon
Rating:
Summary: BestProgram in the World.
Review: When I first received this program I was a little skeptical over the way it would work for Windows millennium edition in which is what I got but when I got there I was very pleasantly surprised it took five minutes to learn my voice and after that I could do everything with the control my computer and the install software and do anything I would like to express my gratitude to Dragon for creating such a wonderful program such as this now all I have to do is speaking and it type for me and this is the best program on the market and possibly the best in the world.
I am referring to the standard edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking five.
| 
