Nuance Dragon Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home 13 (Old Version)

I am now going to review Dragon Naturally Speaking 13, Home. (Business comes with tools for using Excel and other business programs I don't use that much.) I found the installation process a little interesting as the program progress bar does not seem to move at first. After a while, when I was about ready to give up, it did move and the installation continued. However it was very, very slow. I had turned off my antivirus software as suggested and followed the prompts. Installation process was slow enough that I could have literally gone out, made a meal and then come back and found the installation still in progress. This concerned me a little because I was not sure that my computer was up to the task of running this program as expected.My computer runs Win 7 Pro, with a 2.66 GHz processor, four gigs of RAM even though Windows 7 can only utilize 3.5 gigs. I am now typing this in Word 2007 and it seems to be working quite well.When I went through the registration process, I noticed that it one point a window came up and said that it needed the serial number. The serial number was already in the box and was highlighted. When I pressed continue or next, a window popped up and said that the registration was not completed. I went back and took out the highlighted number and then retyped it using the numbers at the top of the keyboard rather than on the keypad, as previous experiences shown that some programs in some instances will not accept the import from the keypad the same way they accept information from the numbers across the top of the keyboard above the letters. DO NOT put n the hyphens, as I believe the program will not register properly if you do. There is a sentence that tells you not to put them in.Getting used to this is interesting as it seems to recognize all my words and unfortunately my bad grammar and my way of speaking in run-on sentences. However, as I learn the commands, I think that it will be quite helpful in getting my thoughts down at a higher rate of speed. So far the accuracy is very, very good probably more than 99%. It doesn’t like words like very, very good (two of the same word repeated.)I just tried using Dragon in Final Draft 2.5. I use it for script writing and for movie production. The Dragon box came up and would allow me to paste my text into the program and it seemed to work just fine. This one extra step is probably not a huge issue and will actually allow me to edit my thoughts better than if I type directly into the program. So very pleased with this program so far.Follow the instructions for installation to the letter. They are there for a reason and you probably won’t have any problems.

So far so good. I've been using the Windows Speech Recognition program that was built into Windows 7 (my current OS) but comparing Dragon to the Windows program is like comparing a Lexus to a Model T. They both do pretty much the same thing but Dragon does it FAR better. Some of the advantages of Dragon:It is intuitive, whereas the Windows program doesn't seem to be, at least not nearly as much. For instance, when dictating (for example) "the weather was fair today" Dragon anticipates the meaning based on the context and will print "fair" rather than "fare", a problem that was chronic with the Windows program with many similar-sounding words.It learns: the more you use it the better it gets. I've had mine for only a few weeks and it is already much better at transcribing what I say.The commands seem to be designed for speed. For example with the Windows program if you want to capitalize a word or phrase you need to speak the phrase, then go back and highlight the word/words you want capitalized and say "capitalize". With Dragon, just saying "cap" before the word will capitalize the word. Other commands make equal sense. Some of the commands in Dragon are similar to the ones in the Windows program (and can work interchangeably) but with the ones that are different the Dragon versions seem much speedier.The Text Box. With the Windows program there were applications that wouldn't accept dictation, in which case you'd need to open MS Word, speak your text and after it was written, cut-and-paste it into the document in your other application. With Dragon, it instantly recognizes when it cannot type into an application and will bring up a "text box" that allows you to dictate your text. When finished just use the "transfer" command and Dragon posts it into your document.Problems? The instructions with the program tend to over-complicate things, but if you've used the windows program there is enough similarity so that once you've loaded Dragon you can use it immediately. However there are enough differences so that unless you really read the instructions and understand Dragon, you won't get nearly the speed out of it that it is capable of delivering. Also, I ordered the package deal with earphones and Dragon for Dummies--but if you do this please note that at least with the package I got, the Dragon for Dummies included was for Version 12, not Version 13 (which was the version of Dragon that I got) and there seemed to be enough differences so that the book, while helpful, is not the resource that it could be if it were based on the current version. Also note that the dragon software itself comes with a set of earphones (which I didn't know), so now I have two sets of earphones for the program, neither of which I use because of the analog connections (I have a USB set that is far superior to either of the two included with my order).All in all, a very good bang for your buck and light-years ahead of the program I was using. Just be sure what is in the package youare ordering.