Entered CNET Catalog: 06/09/2003
SKU: 881516
Manufacturer: Nuance Communications, Inc. (ScanSoft)
Manufacturer description
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 7 offers home and small office users powerful features to maximize their productivity. After completing about 5 minutes of training, you can talk to your computer and watch your words instantly appear in virtually any Windows-based application, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, and Corel WordPerfect. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 is the most accurate Dragon NaturallySpeaking ever, and the easiest to use. 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.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/22/2004
Microphone setup is a snap. A wizard walks you through configuring the mike's volume and tests the quality of the overall audio (an Emkay microphone headset is included in the box).
The interface remains unchanged from previous versions. All that appears onscreen is a toolbar with several menus: NaturallySpeaking, Tools, Words, Sounds, Help, and a button for turning on the microphone. (You can also turn the mike off simply by saying, "Microphone off.") As in the previous edition, you can dock this toolbar at the top or the bottom of the screen, let it float on the display, minimize it to a single icon in the Windows system tray, or attach it to the active application window. This last option is particularly useful, as it keeps the toolbar prominent without taking up too much desktop space.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.0 works with Windows 98 Second Edition and up and requires about 300MB of space for a typical installation. We tested it on a Windows XP system with a 1.4GHz Pentium 4 processor and 512MB of RAM and had no problems. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.0 Preferred offers improved accuracy and several new productivity tools designed to ease the chores of dictation and control. One such tool is an autopunctuation feature that automatically inserts commas and periods instead of requiring the user to say "Comma" or "Period" at each point. Unfortunately, it's a little unreliable. It was better at inserting periods than commas, but even after we repeated a two-sentence test half a dozen times, the program never got it right. You'll get better results if you stick to the old-fashioned way of saying "Comma" or "Period" to note punctuation.
Once NaturallySpeaking is active, you can dictate text into most Windows-based applications. We tried it with everything from Quicken and never encountered a problem.
The accuracy of DNS 7.0 is amazing. We read two newspaper articles and a business letter into Word, and the program scored an impressive 97 to 98 percent accuracy rate. We dictated more than 100 words for the business letter, and the program churned out the document with only three typos.
In addition to dictating text, you can control menus and dialog boxes with your voice. For example, you can open an app's File menu with a simple "Click file" voice command. Version 7.0 adds several new programs to its list of speech-enabled apps, including AOL 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 (but not the newest AOL 9.0); WordPerfect 11.0; and Microsoft Access. These additions to already supported apps such as Word, Lotus Notes, and Excel mean you can use plain-English commands to operate the software. Unfortunately, the Preferred edition doesn't support dictation into Outlook or PowerPoint. For that, you'll have to upgrade to Professional, which costs a hefty $695. The good news is that you can edit text in word processors such as Word and WordPerfect. For instance, you can highlight a section in Word by saying "Select" and repeating a string of text; from there, saying "Bold" will boldface it. But editing by voice is more gimmick than graceful; most users will find it much faster to edit with mouse and keyboard.
Web navigation with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.0 is a real winner. You can run Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (we used 6.0) by microphone, scroll through pages, enter URLs, or call up a link by saying its first few words. We dictated commands such as "Start scrolling down" and "Page up," and the program recognized them in every instance. Unfortunately, we didn't have as much success entering URLs and ended up spelling them out most of the time. Dragon provides support for NaturallySpeaking 7.0 via phone, e-mail, and an online knowledge base.
The knowledge base is the only free option. It is easily searchable and offers tons of help with problems others have already encountered. (ScanSoft also maintains user-based forums but, unfortunately, not one for NaturallySpeaking--strange.)
E-mail queries cost $9.95 per incident, and ScanSoft promises a 24-hour turnaround. Phone support costs double, at $19.95 per incident, and the call isn't toll free. Phone and e-mail support are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT. You do get one free phone-support call, however. In our tests, a support technician was on the line within seconds and was able to solve our problem.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
9/10
Will change the way you use your computer at home
Pros: Very accurate (after some corrections), lets you lean back in your reclining office chair and still use your computer, good voice control features
Cons: Has a few minor bugs, takes a lot of patience to get it as accurate as possible, can be pricey
User Rating: 
7/10
AT LEAST TRY ONCE
Pros: AT LEAST TRY ONCE
Cons: DRAGEN REALLY WORKS
User Rating: 
4/10
Not compatible with SP2
Pros: Before SP2 came out Version 7 worked well.
Cons: The company did not fix Version 7 when SP2 came out. It says that Version 7 is incompatible with SP2. It suggests buying Version 8. However, everyone knows that Microsoft will update SP2. If so, plan on ScanSoft not supporting Version 8.
User Rating: 
8/10
Amazing Accuracy & Fast Setup
Pros: Accuracy is amazing 95% after only 5 minutes gets better the more you use the program. Runs all my programs not just the usual stuff, in fact I've even integrated this to work with some games I play. Runs the whole computer just like they say.
Cons: Not cheap but still worth every penny.
User Rating: 7/10
An accurate product once trained
Pros: Once trained (which does not take long), I achieve around 90-95% accuracy. You need to use it continually to get the best out of it. The more it is trained then the more accurate it will become.
Cons:
User Rating: 7/10
Speech recognition has finally arrived.
Pros: I have been using speech recognition since Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 3.0. This is the first version that works well enough to actually use. I am a mediocre typist and have longed to be able to give up my keyboard. The error rate is so low on thi
Cons: It has some minor stability problems when interacting with non-office products especially. Occasionally it will get squirrelly enough that you'll want to reboot. For me, the ability to input data into my computer without the keyboard far overshadowed th
User Rating: 9/10
The best by far!!
Pros: Easy to use Quick set up High accuracy
Cons: By far the best speech recognition software on the market. Not always good for the long terms when there is no competition.
User Rating: 8/10
Better than the rest by a long shot
Pros: The program is fast and accurate. Not only can you speak to your PC faster then you could ever type it, but you can also create commands that help you automate tasks. As a matter of fact I am dictating right now.
Cons: The only con with the program is that it does take a little bit of training and patience to get it to a point were very little correction is needed. Once this is done the accuracy is almost flawless.
User Rating: 
2/10
IBM Via Voice is a far superior tool
Pros: ? Relatively affordable ?
Cons: Not Cost effective compared to IBM's current Via Voice Poor effective Voice Recognition
