Product Description

Talk to your computer and watch your spoken words instantly appear in documents, email and instant messages with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4 in Software
• Brand: Nuance Communications, Inc.
• Model: A309A-G01-10.0
• Released on: 2008-08-11
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95
• Format: CD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 5.10" h x 7.80" w x 2.90" l, .45 pounds

Features

• Offers unprecedented speech recognition with unrivaled accuracy levels
• Dictate and edit in virtually any Windows application, including Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and AOL
• Compose emails and instant messages or surf the Web just by speaking
• Quick Voice Formatting commands allow users to issue a single voice command to make deleting and formatting text faster than ever
• Everything you need to get started, including a high-quality headset

Amazon.com
With Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard, a user can talk to the computer and watch the spoken words instantly appear in documents, email and instant messages. Users can even surf the Web just by speaking. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 turns voice into text three times faster than typing, and it delivers up to 99% accuracy. It learns to recognize the user's voice instantly, and continually improves the more it's used.

Talk to the computer and watch the spoken words instantly appear in documents, email and instant messages. Click to enlarge.

Quick Voice Formatting makes deleting and formatting text faster than ever. Click to enlarge.

New on-screen help and tutorials help users become experts in no time. Click to enlarge.

Speech recognition software products like Dragon use the human voice as the main interface between the user and the computer. Millions of users turn to Dragon each day to make PC interaction easier, faster and more fun. Users can dictate and edit in virtually any Windows application, including Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and AOL. This revolutionary and easy-to-use product gives users everything they need to get started, including a high-quality headset.

Turn Talk Into Text

Accurate Speech Recognition for PC Applications
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard offers unprecedented speech recognition with unrivaled accuracy levels: it's up to 20% more accurate than Version 9, with up to 50% more accurate results than the product delivered just five years ago. Users gain the added benefit of avoiding spelling errors and typing mistakes. In fact, the product actually learns from corrections over time.

Works With the Applications Users Already Have
Dictate directly into Microsoft Word and most other Microsoft Office applications running on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Vista. Dragon also supports popular programs such as Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and AOL. Navigate the desktop by voice: launch or switch applications, save or print documents, and more--even control menus and dialog boxes.

Create and Edit Documents and Messages
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 introduces new graphical icons to enhance the DragonBar user interface, making the product even easier to use.

Users can quickly add custom words, such as proper names, to the system's vocabulary.

Quick Voice Formatting commands allow users to issue a single voice command, such as "Bold Quick Voice Formatting" to make deleting and formatting text faster than ever. In addition, unique Natural Language Commands mean users don't have to memorize complex instructions. In Word, for example, a user can say, "make that bigger," and the font size increases instantly.

With the automatic punctuation option, users can omit spoken periods and commas during dictation--Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters them automatically.

Send Email, Instant Messages and Surf the Web--All by Voice
Users can browse the Internet with ease: search the Web, access information and navigate Web pages, simply by speaking URLs and links.

User Benefits

Faster than Typing
Most people speak more than 120 per minute but type less than 40 words a minute. That means users can create documents and email messages more than three times faster using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard. The software never makes a spelling mistake, and it actually gets smarter the more it's used.

Fun and Easy to Use--Get Started Right Away
Dragon NaturallySpeaking installs quickly and requires no special script reading. New on-screen help and tutorials help users become experts in no time. Users can dictate letters and emails instantly! A comfortable, high-quality headset is included.

Avoid Repetitive Strain Injuries
By using voice to control the PC and create documents, users reduce their risk of developing repetitive strain injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Key Feature Differences Between Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred	Dragon 10 Preferred	Dragon 10 Standard
More accurate than Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9	•	•
Faster than Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9	•	•
New on-screen help and tutorials--be an expert user right away	•	•
Create documents, email and instant messages--simply by speaking	•	•
Surf the Web by voice	•	•
No enrollment required--get started instantly	•	•
New on-screen help and tutorials--be an expert user right away	•	•
Dictate directly into virtually any Microsoft Windows application	•	•
Control menus and dialog boxes by voice in virtually any Microsoft Windows application	•	•
Natural commands for Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Excel	•
Dragon Voice Shortcuts to speed Web and desktop search	•
Automatically transcribe recordings from Nuance-approved handheld recorders or Pocket PCs	•
Wireless microphone support, including Bluetooth	•
Includes Nuance RealSpeak for turning text into human-sounding synthesized speech	•
Play back your dictation for easier correction and proofing	•
Insert your signature, logo or boilerplate text in any file with a simple voice command	•
Import/export your user files to use on any PC with Dragon NaturallySpeaking	•

Customer Reviews

An amazing piece of software
I am an instructor for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but I do not work for Nuance.com. I work for a healthcare software company. I primarily deal with the medical editions used by Pathologists in clinical laboratories.

Here are some pointers for those who have not used Dragon, but are thinking of purchasing.

1. Don't skimp on a headset. Visit Nuance.com. Click on Support > Hardware Compatibility List > Dragon NaturallySpeaking > Headset Microphones Current. While it is possible to use a wireless microphone, if you are just starting out, go with a wired, such as a Plantronics DSP-400 (Amazon has this headset for $[...]. It seems cheap, but it is a very good headset). If you can hook the headset up via USB instead of mic in, you will get better recognition accuracy. Additionally, you don't need an internal sound card if you are connecting via USB as the headset comes with its own external sound card.

A good wireless headset will be expensive, and they do not have as good of recognition accuracy as a wired headset.

2. Once you have your headset, connect it to the PC, and install Dragon. It is a straightforward install.

3. You will have to go through an audio and quality check, and then go into General Training. I recommend doing one of the easier readings. You can always go back through and do additional general training. My BIGGEST piece of advice here is speak with your normal voice. Some of my students seem to want to over enunciate, or speak with a different voice during general training. That is only going to set you up for a difficult time when you begin dictating.

4. After your general training, I highly recommend going through the Tutorials. You should be given an option to do this after your general training. If not, you can get to them through the Help Menu on the Dragon bar.

Note: At some point, you will be given the option of having Dragon scan your email and documents. Nuance recommends this, but I don't. You can always have it scan your documents later via the accuracy center. Additionally, I never recommend letting Dragon scan your email. What it is going to do with these actions, is to learn your writing style. Rather than letting DNS do this at setup, move a bunch of documents you have written to one folder, go to the Accuracy Center, and let DNS scan the entire folder.

4. Dragon has some shortcut keys. The number keypad + key is used to turn your mic on and off. The number keypad / key is used to put your mic to sleep, and wake it up. You can go to Tools > Options to change shortcut keys.

5. Remember that while you can do a lot with Dragon, you will find that your best usage comes with using Dragon, the keyboard and the mouse.

6. Set up some Custom Commands. Visit [...] to learn how to set up Custom Commands. There is a book by Larry V. Allen called Scripting for Dragon NaturallySpeaking that will help you out with Advanced Scripts.

7. When you begin dictating, Dragon WILL make some mistakes. It does not help if you yell at your microphone. You will have to continue to train your profile as time goes. If Dragon makes a mistake, resist the urge to delete the mistake and start over. I use this analogy with my students. Think of it as a new puppy. If a puppy makes a mistake, you don't get rid of it (at least you shouldn't), you should correct its mistake. The same goes for Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Use the command "Select That" to have DNS highlight the word, and bring up a menu of possible alternate choices. If the correct word is not there, use the command "Spell That" and then spell the word such as: a m a z o n

8. My last tip concerns the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizer. You can get to it through the Accuracy Center, or the Start Menu. Run that after about two weeks of use, and again on a monthly basis. This will fine tune your profile with all corrections and training.

Enjoy Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It is a great piece of software.

Remarkable software
I'm a freelance journalist who was interested in voice recognition for transcription. I figured it was time to give Nuance a shot. I took the product out of the box yesterday, loaded it, trained the software for about 10 minutes (read a bit of a Dilbert book excerpt, which was entertaining in itself), then loaded up a voice file.

Because the software recognizes one voice only, I played the file in Sony Digital Voice Editor, listened, and repeated/summarized what I was hearing in my own voice via the included headset. The software can't hear what the sound card plays in this case, so this sort of cacophony isn't a problem to NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard. I know this because it worked nearly perfectly once I trained it to write NCAR rather than "and car," which took maybe 30 seconds.

Rough transcription (just getting the info down, spelling and punctuation be damned) usually takes 2-2.5x the actual spoken-word recording time, in my experience; this product is going to pay for itself in a couple of long interviews.

Please note many computers will not work with this
My comments are a warning that I wish I had been given.

I've had various versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking and was very happy with Version 9. Dragon has always been the best voice recognition software for home use. But this version 10 will not install properly unless your cpu handles SSE2. Most of us skip that over in the fine print because we figure if our computer is two years old, it should work.

When I say "not install" I mean that it does an install but then gets hung up in a loop. You cannot turn off your computer and even if you pull the plug, it still runs in the background, not allowing you to remove it. It took some fiddling and a waste of time to finally get it off the computer. Then you have to totally reinstall Version 9 -- I imagine my voice files are gone. This is contrary to Nuance's instructions that if your computer cannot handle V 10, it will notify you and not install.

I have not been able to test this version but on the Nuance site, as well as when I Googled comments on Version 10, both standard and preferred, I found many problems, particularly with Vista. You may be happier if you stay with 9 until they do a better job with the next version. Otherwise, you may be paying for the shipping both ways and waiting two months for the refund.