Review of Nuance Communication Software, Dragon Naturally Speaking 9

Being a writer for Associated Content takes much time and effort to crank out article after article, and to keep up with it on a daily basis. Some people have the dexterity and confidence in their typing to actually increase their speed over time, while others barely squeak by maybe increasing their WPM (words per minute) by five to ten words.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is a great software to increase your words per minute by at least twice your regular typing speed. It works through the use of a headset that you might see a receptionist using to both type on a computer and answer phone calls.

Some may think, "Wow! Here is a great software to help me type faster for that essay or report I have due." This is true, but think about those who chat online. Instead of typing those coded words that are simply things such as wrkg, dn, ty, etc., you will end up with complete words and sentences, and amaze coworkers, family and friends.

This is also a great program to aid those who cannot type and use a computer as a phone to communicate with the rest of the world.

The particular version I use in the "Essential" package, which is the low cost version. Mine is the 9.5 version. The latest version is now 10. The benefits of using Dragon Naturally Speaking are writing email, instant messaging and surfing the web. This program will help you with some of your other programs.

The drawback on using this software is if your accent is such that it changes on the same words quite often, you will find typing errors here and there within your documents. In order to remedy this, a quick re-training of the software will allow it to identify the nuances of your voice over and over.

Dragon's instructions are fairly simple. You install the software, turn off the computer, plug in the headset, and turn the computer back on to start training the software to identify your voice properly. Speaking clearly and loud enough for the software will provide it with accurate typing skills for you.

This particular program requires that you have an Intel Pentium 4 / 1 GHz processor or an AMD equivalent. A Pentium III or Intel Celeron that is 1 GHz will also fair well, too. The required RAM and disk space are 512 and 1 GB respectively.

In the Windows environment, it will work with Vista, XP SP 1 or higher, and the Home and Professional of 2000 SP 4 or higher. A Creative Sound Blaster 16 or equivalent sound card that supports 16 bit recording should be on your computer as well.

Microsoft's IE 5.0 or higher along with a CD-ROM are needed to install and use this product as you will need an internet connection to activate this software. Do not be fooled into thinking that anything less will allow this software to work on your computer.

There are some glitches with this program. Make sure all your current programs are up to date before installing Dragon Naturally Speaking 9. This speech recognition software will not work well or at all if you are not up to date on your computer's programs.

This program will more than pay for itself. If you are a professional writer and edit your own work, you will find that you will be able to meet your deadlines with ease. That is unless you are a horrific procrastinator.

Do make certain you read what little instructions are provided. You may think you can understand this program right away. Some of you are savvy that way. Most of us are not so literate when it comes to learning how to use computer software. There are many tweaks you can make to ensure a well written essay, article, or whatever it is you are writing.

Sources:
Personal Experience