Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 7.0

The improved accuracy of Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 doesn't require a huge amount of training. Plug the supplied headset, with its noise-cancelling microphone, into the mic and headphone sockets of your sound card and spend five minutes reading through a prepared text--light-hearted stuff such as Alice in Wonderland or Dilbert. This is all you need to get started.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 can work with its own text editor, DragonPad, but most people will buy it to work with Word. Its simple little toolbar sits at the top of the screen or attached to the Word window and once switched on, everything you say appears as text in your normal Word document. Should the program mis-hear you, you can edit by voice, too, selecting text and choosing a correction from a pop-up list.

The Preferred version of Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 includes Natural Language commands you can use in Word, Excel, WordPerfect and AOL. These are things such as "Go to beginning of line" or "Reply to e-mail". You can also create your own new commands; ideal for inserting regularly used phrases, or even custom graphics such as a digitised signature. The program can scan your documents and contacts lists to add your personal or specialist words to its word lists, so you don't have to spell them out when dictating.

If you need to dictate while on the move, you can record files into any Pocket PC and transfer them to your desktop for the program to transcribe, when you get back to base. The program also includes RealSpeak TTS, enabling it to read your documents and e-mails aloud. --Simon Williams

With Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 7, you can launch programs, create documents and reports, and manage your desktop--all by voice! Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 to increase productivity even when you're on-the-go! Simply dictate into a ScanSoft certified Pocket PC or handheld digital recorder, and then automatically transcribe your dictated speech when you synch with your PC. Correcting your documents is easier than ever with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7. Use RealSpeak Proofing to have your documents read back to you in the most natural sounding synthesized voice available, or simply have your own recorded dictation played back for you.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking represents a significant step forward in the accuracy, speed, and ease-of-use of speech recognition technology. Buy your copy and increase your productivity today!

After installation, however, my PC wouldn't shut down properly. Every time I wanted to switch off I had to go through the routine at least three times before Windows would close down. The Scansoft knowledge base advises that there may be problems with compatibility if you install SP-2 for Windows XP and that no update is currently available for Naturally Speaking 7 (it actually advises that you shouldn't install XP SP-2 if you're using Naturally Speaking). Since I'd already installed SP-2 prior to purchase, I've had to uninstall Naturally Speaking - and now the PC works just fine.

The entire range uses the same core speech recognition engine so the 'Essentials' package will be perfect for you if you just want to do basic things like dictating letters, email, and even essays whilst you are sitting in front of your PC.

However, the 'Essentials' package does have it's limitations. If you want full integration with Microsoft Word and so on then you will be better off with this 'Preferred' package which has all the bells and whistles, including a fair few more than the 'Standard' package which only has a couple of extra features over the 'Essentials'.

What might prove to be the deciding factor though, is that this 'Preferred' package enables you to use a digital voice recorder to input your words. It is worth checking the Scansoft website to check your voice recorder is compatible before buying though! Although this might seem a slight benefit it actually can be extremely helpful, you can record your spoken thoughts at any time or place and then connect the recorder to your PC when it suits you, really helpful if you don't always feel inspired when staring at your blank monitor!

So there it is, if you have the money and a digital voice recorder then go for this version as it really is worth the extra, it has all the features you will ever need (and probably a few you don't) but if you want to opt for a cut down version then go for the 'Essentials' because it has the speech recognition engine and the cheapest price (you can quite easily do without the extra few features of the 'Standard' package)

Take my advice, do not dismiss the enormous benefits of voice recognition on the basis of the levels of accuracy achieved using MS XP. After just five minutes I was satisfied that the purchase of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 7.0 would pay for itself many times over. The provision of voice recording software which was seamlessly installed on to my pocket PC (O2 XDA) was an added bonus.

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