Product Description

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred gives small business andadvanced PC users the power to create documents reports and emailsthree times faster than most people type — with up to 99%accuracy. Surf the Web by voice or dictate and edit in Mic

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161 in Software
• Brand: Nuance Communications, Inc.
• Released on: 2008-09-09
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Dimensions: .44 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Strictly for academic purposes only, by valid students, faculty and staff of recognised educational institutions Create documents, reports, emails and IM's three times faster than most people typeContinued accuracy: Every time an individual uses Dragon and corrects their recognition errors, the software updates their user profile to enable better recognition accuracy over time

Works With the Applications Users Already Have. Users can dictate directly into Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook Express 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. Users can even control menus and dialog boxes in these applications. Navigate the desktop by voice: launch or switch applications, save or print documents, and more - all by voice.

Add Custom Words and Voice Commands. Quickly add custom words, such as names, to the system's vocabulary. Create your own commands, such as "insert signature," and pre-set text and images will automatically appear in email and documents.

Easy Correction and Proofing. With "play back" feature, users can listen to their dictation while Dragon highlights the corresponding text on the screen for easy proofreading.

NEW Quick Voice Formatting commands allow users to issue a single voice command, such as "Bold Quick Voice Formatting" to make editing and formatting text faster than ever. 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.

Punctuation. Select the "Nothing but Speech" natural punctuation feature so that punctuation is automatically entered into documents and messages.

NEW Dragon Voice Shortcuts for Web Search make searching for information on the Web faster and easier. Just say "Search the Web for financial management resources," or "Search maps for Italian restaurants in Guildford, Surrey," and Dragon will use the default search engine and default Web browser to enter the term in the search field and return the results. A user may also search specific sites using commands such as "Search Wikipedia for George Washington Carver," "Search eBay for Bluetooth headsets." Sites supported by Dragon Voice Shortcuts include Google, Yahoo, eBay, Wikipedia and more.

NEW Dragon Voice Shortcuts for Desktop Search allow users to quickly locate information on the PC - including documents, email and Web history - all by voice. For example, say "Search email for launch plans" and Dragon will complete the desktop search using Google desktop search or Windows Vista desktop search. Or command, "Find an email about the Robinson report," to open the top email.

Be Productive on the Go. Dictate into any Nuance-certified digital recorder for automatic transcription when it is synched with a PC.

Easy to Use. Quick installation and no special script reading required. New on-screen help and tutorials help users become experts in no time. A comfortable, high-quality headset is included or use with your own Nuance-approved Bluetooth headset for dictation results - without the wires.

Avoid Repetitive Strain Injuries by using voice to control the PC and create documents.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Pretty Good
Arrived within 48 hours from Amazon (no delivery on a Sunday or it would have been here quicker).

I write a lot of policy documents as part of my job and I must admit that this software when I am producing large documents is really useful. It worked straight out of the box and once I had perfected my pronunciation, I reckon that I get around 98% accuracy, which for this type of software is about the average I believe.

The software itself is simple to set up and configure, although it is time consuming if you wish to customise the formatting settings: but worth it in the long run if you are working to templates in any way. I would advise anyone considering installing this software the THEY MUST HAVE ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS on the computer you are installing it on or it will not work.

I found the training programme good and it does improve the recognition accuracy quite considerably, particularly as the intuative software can be trained to adapt to you speaking style.

So how good is it and why have I not given it tars (well I am dictating this now and as you car see the S was missing out of stars). It works well with Outlook, Word and I believe Excel, but I like to use my hands and type in Excel. I haven't used it in the other supported softward, but it does work fine in the two main products that I work with.

I must admit that when I first trialled similar software 10 years ago if was nowhere near as good as this, but the same challenges remain as then, that of recognition.

Is it worth the cash? I would suggest yes, particularly if you want to copy large amounts of text from a text book or similar and it would have been really useful for me when I was producing the various reports, studies and dissertainon for my degree.

Problem words synergise, synergy, necessary, necessitate etc all dictate accurately (a few chosen at random). It does have some problems mainly due to my dition.

If you want something like this, it does work but check what you dictate before you press send.

Good, but some annoying features
I already had 8.0, but consider the upgrade worth it because of the increased speed and accuracy.

The Education Version came with no handbook of any kind

In online applications, including Yahoo e-mail, this version seems very quick to interpret what is intended as text as navigation commands. I haven't found out how to totally switch these off, which would be my preference.

As with earlier versions, corrected text sometimes appears displaced slightly, taking letters off valid text.

The headset was useless, but since you can get an excellent noise cancelling headset for £10, that is relatively minor.

A good product for the right user or special task
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 10.0, Education Version, is one of a number of variations available to purchase this product. Please check the other versions carefully to be sure to get exactly the features and price to suit you. Amazon has excellent Product Features and Description to help you decide, and even a short video.

With this Education Version be SURE to read this section "This software is for purchase and use by students meeting the eligibility criteria". There is a link to click which gives full details of this. Be sure that you meet the criteria or you may not be able to use this version!

This is the first time I have used voice recognition software so I have nothing else to compare it with, however it seems to do what I expect of it pretty well. I use a standard Toshiba laptop with mainly Microsoft software and Dragon seems perfectly compatible for me. It suits some tasks very well, and for entering large amounts of data or writing your first novel it may prove invaluable. Also, older people with less agile fingers or arthritis may find this product extremely useful. Even people with more severe disabilities may well find this application helps them manage their computer more easily.

A minor niggle is the supplied headset is not as comfortable as some I've used, and gets worse the longer it's used. You may need to consider a replacement for long term use if you find the same thing. Amazon has plenty to choose from and they start at around £4 plus P&P.

You computer won't suddenly turn into HAL from 2001 - which may be a good thing as it turned out. Your computer won't even talk back to you, but if you don't mind chatting to yourself unselfconsciously you may get on ok with Dragon. It takes a while for it to get to know you, but it gets easier as you persevere. I'll knock one star off for the quality of the headset, and good typists will find it a bit unnecessary, but for some users this product deserves a good four stars so that's how I will rate it.