Dragon Naturally Speaking

**Rick Cantrell** · 01-05-2013, 07:45 AM

I receive Dragon NaturallySpeaking for Christmas.
Every word of this post was written by Dragon NaturallySpeaking, by me just speaking into the microphone.
I am running Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my desktop machine which has two gig of memory and is running XP, and is about seven years old.
I just installed the software this morning, and have only been using it for about an hour.
it's going to take a while to get used to using it.
I forgot to say "Cap It's ", on the previous line.
Editing is difficult, but the word recognition is very good.
I think some people may already be using Dragon NaturallySpeaking when they post to inspection news, that may explain why some post are as long as a book.(Ha ha)

Now I have even more time to do nothing than I had before.

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**wayne soper** · 01-05-2013, 09:36 AM

rick, i used to use it but found that it's mistakes would add unintended words to the report that made it read very unprofessional
it required that i proof read every word to insure no mistakes.
i also found that it would crash and i would have to start fron scratch every few months.
i am still wanting to try a newer version though as the plus side was a report that read very much as i spoke during the inspection.
but that still leaves the boilerplates out.
so, in my opinion, a good boilerplate, with some added decriptions may be the best way to go
please ler us know how it works for you

**Rick Cantrell** · 01-05-2013, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by wayne soper

r
i also found that it would crash and i would have to start fron scratch every few months.

Just crashed
Says to re install
I give it one, maybe two more tries.

I was sending out two late notices
Maybe it's not friendly to Landlords.

**Dom D'Agostino** · 01-05-2013, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by wayne soper

it required that i proof read every word to insure no mistakes.

Even when I type I still have to do that....

**Steven Turetsky** · 01-05-2013, 10:40 AM

I've been thinking about Dragon for a while, so please continue to post how it goes.

I don't know if I would use it non stop when compiling a report, but it may be good to do a paragraph in a narrative or perhaps a boilerplate.

I am preparing to compile an extensive boilerplate library, and I also want to create a glossary. I am hoping Dragon will be useful.

**Lon Henderson** · 01-05-2013, 11:34 AM

I had an earlier version of Dragon and it was worthless. But the voice recognition on my Windows phone is pretty good, so I had been considering trying Dragon again. My phone surprises me sometimes at how accurately it will transcribe a technical sentence, and then mangle an easy sentence.

But after doing some research into Dragon, there are some reviews written with Dragon and there are many mistakes. So, for now I am passing on trying it.

**Markus Keller** · 01-07-2013, 08:39 AM

I've been using Dragon for a couple months now. I don't use it as much as I could since I prefer having the stereo cranked when doing reports. However, it hasn't given me any problems and errors have been very minor. It's been surprisingly reliable so far. No crashes or anything.
But then again, I'm using a Mac instead of some old DOS machine.
Speech recognition is also probably much better for me since being from Chicago I don't have some strange accent like other people in warmer climates.

**Dana Bostick** · 01-07-2013, 09:19 AM

Dragon Naturally Speaking is an awesome program but it does have its issues. I'm using it right now. I use it extensively all day long for e-mail, chats and just about any place I need to enter text.

Like anything you have written, it is wise to proofread before publishing. The speech recognition is not perfect and mistakes get made that you need to spot and correct. You can do that with voice commands within the program now but I find that cumbersome. I just read through it and click and make corrections manually as needed.

Dragon is also very machine dependent. It is a resource hog and if you don't have the resources it won't perform well. My current machine is a 3.2 GHz, Dual core processor with 8 GB of RAM and Dragon works very well and is quite fast. Back in the day, I used it on less powerful machines and it was a dog. It also doesn't play nice everywhere. It seems to have issues with java-based programs such as Home Inspector Pro. There are workarounds such as using the "Dictation Box" and transferring the text where you need it. Dictating directly into HIP doesn't always work. Note, I only use it on my desktop. I do not use it on a tablet or laptop in the field.

As with any tool there are pluses and minuses to using it. I find the pluses far outweigh the minuses and it saves me a lot of time. I do a lot of writing for blogs etc. and this is a real lifesaver.

John Ritter · 01-07-2013, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

I've been using Dragon for a couple months now. I don't use it as much as I could since I prefer having the stereo cranked when doing reports. However, it hasn't given me any problems and errors have been very minor. It's been surprisingly reliable so far. No crashes or anything.
But then again, I'm using a Mac instead of some old DOS machine.
Speech recognition is also probably much better for me since being from Chicago I don't have some strange accent like other people in warmer climates.

Works fine with my STRANGE accent

**Nick Ostrowski** · 01-07-2013, 09:44 PM

I tried it for a while and it got very frustrating with it mistaking "insulation" and "installation" for one another. It was slow to load and slow to respond. I found in the end, I can type faster on my own.

**Mike Lamb** · 01-08-2013, 12:04 PM

I bought an older version of Dragon, Dragon 11, a month ago and have been very happy with it. Yes, I'm using it right now. Make sure you update your profile after every use and you might be able to eliminate the confusion with words like installation and insulation.

I proof every sentence as I go along because if it makes a mistake the results can be pretty ridiculous.

Daniel LoPresto · 01-19-2014, 09:32 PM

I have been using Dragon for a year or so. I have a newer computer with 32 gig of RAM and a fast quad core processor, so that may help. I still proof read the entire document that I just finished with, but that's OK. I type really fast - around 80 WPM, but this saves my wrists.

That being said, it's a great bargain for the money, and I'm very glad that I installed it, and will continue to use it.

BTW, I am using 11, and its never crashed. I used it today on my Sunday report day - 60+ cases, most insurance inspections from the past week, and all needing some type of word input.

I have noticed that the better mic that you have, the better the recognition. My old cheap pin mic was horrendous, but my USB $34 headset is MUCH better.

Just a thought...

**BridgeMan** · 01-20-2014, 02:56 AM

Originally Posted by wayne soper

rick, i used to use it but found that it's mistakes would add unintended words to the report that made it read very unprofessional
it required that i proof read every word to insure no mistakes.
i also found that it would crash and i would have to start fron scratch every few months.
i am still wanting to try a newer version though as the plus side was a report that read very much as i spoke during the inspection.
but that still leaves the boilerplates out.
so, in my opinion, a good boilerplate, with some added decriptions may be the best way to go
please ler us know how it works for you

But I'll bet it knows to not use an apostrophe in "it's" (which is a contraction for "it is"), and would also use caps to start a sentence. And might even catch the difference between "ler" and "let".