Dragon Professional Individual Reviews

Great way to work with text from audio files

Comments: I do a lot of translation for subtitling and not having to take "dictation" really increases my productivity.

Pros:

The fact that you can teach it words like names of products, entities and cities in other languages.

Cons:

I think that, as compared to the competition, it's all good. Nothing really strikes me as bad.

The power of speech.

Comments: My Business is all about writing and Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition software enables me to get my ideas typed quickly and easily. Moreover, the process is fluid and does not interrupt my creativity. I can talk faster than I can type, therefore, speaking into a headset microphone has become second nature. The purpose of getting this software was to speed up the writing process and to help with my wrist ailments. There are medical benefits too, for people with difficulties in their hands, where extensive typing can be a painful problem. Essentially the benefits to me of using Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition software are : Easily transfer my ideas to text by dictating. Transcribe recordings of meetings, podcasts, radio interviews etc. Ease my wrist pain by not needing to manually type so much.

Pros:

I have used Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition software for several years, from version 12 to the current version 15 for PC. Anyone vaguely familiar with this type of software may be used to clunky products that struggle to recognize simple words, let alone sentences and so on. Fret no more. Nuance are the market leaders in this field, and for good reason. It works - pure and simple. I defy anyone not to tryout the current version and not be super impressed. Honestly, give it a go. After training it to your voice by reading out a set piece of text in your natural tone and voice, Dragon sets up a profile for you. The more you use Dragon, the better your profile becomes at remembering and crucially, learning how you speak. The current version even allow podcasts, radio interviews etc, to be transcribed with I would say depending upon the clarity of the persons voice, at least 80% accuracy. In addition to using Dragon for dictating, you can use it to navigate the internet. Yes, you can. With practice, you ask Dragon to open up your web browser and speak the web sites you wish to browse. I have achieved limited success with this, though this is more because I haven't grasped the commands yet. I love being able to say commands like - Open microsoft word. New document. Then watch Dragon perform these tasks like magic. More magic unfolds when you start to speak and the text appears. Oh keep in mind, though, you have to say the punctuation. After a while this becomes natural.

Cons:

Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition software can after several hours of use appear to get tired and become sluggish. Words and phrases it will have previously recognised will mystify it and produce random or garbled results. Dragon will not recognise some commands. This can be annoying when you are trying to complete a piece of work. When this happens, its best to switch it off for a break. Another point is that Dragon can become too particular and remonstrate with you for becoming tired. For example, as we lose energy our voice may decrease in clarity and tone. Well, Dragon is unforgiving, such that when you dictate and are unclear with your words, the typed text will not be what you want. Dragon will have misinterpreted, often with random and bemusing results. Solution, take a break or resort to manual typing.

old bad software

Comments: I had to use it because I was temporarily disabled and it was horrible to learn and absolutely frustrating at times. As soon as I can type on my own it will be deleted and never ever purchase again.

Pros:

command prompts worked reasonably well if you know what they are.

Cons:

it is a very stupid software and can't read anything around it which in today's day is archaic. The software needs a major upgrade and update to be smarter on how it works. learning the software is a difficult task.

Career saver

Comments: I started using it because I have RSI in my wrists. It saved my career. I can now be as productive as I was before

Pros:

The dictation capabilities (it saves from having to type )

Cons:

It often freezes. It doesn't work with Microsoft Teams.

Good product but overpriced.

Comments: Unhelpful unless you pay $hundreds for help. I am not sure the quality of the service - I could never get that far.

Pros:

The program (v 16) transcribed well (even medical terms) and is relatively easy to use once the learning curve and training have been completed.

Cons:

I paid over $500 for what I was told was a plan that would include free upgrades. Nine months after purchase I noted that UK English was being used by Dragon instead of American English and I could not get the output text language back to American English. I called customer support and was told I needed to pay an additional $200 to get service. The rationale put forth was that my cust. support expired after 6 months and again I would need to pay $200 to receive help. The $500 I paid up front did not even allow me to get help from customer service. Unless you care nothing about expense. move on to a different program.

Dragon makes life easy

Comments: I started using dragon in college, and it was a lifesaver, and I’ve been using it ever cents

Pros:

For myself, it is very beneficial because I have arthritis very bad in both hands and it would take me forever to have to try to type

Cons:

The biggest con that I can think of is the cost

Dragon Pro

Comments: Working from home, it has been invaluable. I can now act as my own typist (well, almost!)The more I use it, the more accurate it gets, which is really rewarding, and it has really come into its own during COVID lockdown periods, when face to face working was out, and I had to communicate purely through email.I'm thinking about trying to write a novel with it, next!

Pros:

Really clear guidance around voice commandsAllows me to dictate at home, and then transfer to text on my PC whenever convenientReal time saver (I used to have to collect tapes, and pass them to my PA)

Cons:

I have a fairly strong Scottish accent, and it took time to "train" the software. I still sometimes attempt to speak in a home counties accent, just to make life easier!

Beware-company does some strange and possible illegal activity. Stay away.

Comments: Bad attitudes, excuses (it's not my fault). Lack That positive can-do attitudes. Certainly not a customer-centric company and seem to have lost sight that the customer, pays the bills. I also have PaperPort while supposedly compatible with Windows 10 it certainly is a frustrating and buggy program. My experience with DNS is negative and I will make sure you "pass the message" wherever possible.

Pros:

It gives the disabled more freedom to type but still requires much keyboard action things flowing.

Cons:

I have Dragon 15 and a normal update notice popped up on my screen. I like to keep my software up to date so I clicked update now. The next day I go to use my Dragon and it won't accept my user profile. Being a quadriplegic it took many hours to add custom words/phrases/or things that make Dragon work the best that he can for me. I call Dragon support and they informed me that this was a complete upgrade and took me to version 15.05. The cost of the upgrade is $99.95. I couldn't believe that asked if they could remove the update and I will continue to use my program as it is. DNS support tells me that's not possible. I can uninstall the upgraded version and reinstall my original version and then Re-train it over again to get back to where it was. Feeling like I was being held hostage DNS support installed the upgrade and then call back for the money. I asked the rather rude support gentlemen what exact benefits does this new version have over the old one. His Response: you get the upgrade, future free technical support (never pay before) future upgrades at no charge" I then repeated the question "exactly what benefits will I receive from this purchase using DNS 15.05 over my current version 15." After some brief silence, he came back with paraphrasing "faster, more accurate, worse with more programs, etc. These are all the same promises that started with my 1st purchase of Dragon 11 and the future purchases of 12, 13 and 15. I really have noticed little to no difference.

Great Program; Marginal Customer Service

Comments: I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking daily for practically everything I do, including e-mails, correspondence, documents, and Outlook entries. It is accurate and effectively eliminates the need for a typist. It has a few drawbacks, but they are overwhelmed by its advantages.

Pros:

NaturalSpeaking is the premium software for voice dictation. With an above average microphone, its accuracy is easily about 95% and likely 90% right out of the box. It learns as you use it, customizing itself to your manner of speaking, pronunciation, etc. It is relatively easy to create special words and even phrases and macros that you use often.

Cons:

Customer service is a drag. It has been my experience that they are slow to respond. I also find that the knowledge base and online support is not fantastic and often get better results with a Google search than I do searching Nuance's knowledge base. It needs a better Chrome extension so that it does not need to be reset each time you close and reopen Chrome. Also, I cannot seem to train it to recognize how I pronounce certain words, which is regretable because those are almost always the inaccuracies in any document.

Dragon Speech listens to what you say

Comments: Overall, Dragon is software for speech recognition on the PC. However, speech recognition for dictation of articles is something that has to agree with you. Many people do not like to talk to the PC for this purpose and prefer to type in the article in stead. I would love to test out the app on smartphone or even have it integrated in the car as part of the standard software. That is however quite unlikely.

Pros:

The software is great for dictation. I use it for English and Dutch with some words added to the vocabulairy because of the fact that they are typical acronyms (like WSO2, APIM etc). In contrast with speech recognition in the past the amount of getting used to your voice is now minimal. Just read a couple of lines and you are good to go. You can include things like next line and it will actually go to the next line. One of the best things is that you can import a sound file that you would like to transcribe and it will output the text to an rft file or you copy it to word. There are apps on the smartphone from dragon that will allow you to dictate and process the sound in the cloud and give you the text in the app but until now it has only been available in the US for English

Cons:

Every now and then a profile does not load any more and i need to either create a new profile or switch to the other profiles.

Train You Dragon!

Pros:

Dragon Medical One is very easy to install and users can begin using it immediately! As the user continues to optimize their use of DMO, the recognition improves. Dragon is great because the installation, implementation, and training are very user-friendly.

Cons:

Dragon is a simple product and I think the developers do a great job supporting the product and resolving issues.

Works with amazing accuracy. Without doubt, the best voice recognition software available.

Pros:

Its accuracy and ability to execute commands as well as record text. Multiple languages. Adapts by building a profile of the user over time. I bought Dragon NS in 2016, version 13 Premium and was surprised at how good voice recognition has become in recent years. I am a technical translator, French to English, and knew that DNS was fully supported by my computer aided translation software (MemoQ). Even though I am a fast typist, DNS allowed me to double my work output for many translations. I was also surprised by the ease of handling columns and tables of numbers and unusual words with Dragon. In fact, it is easier to say them than to type them. Like many keyboarders, I am OK with the the common keys and punctuation but need to look when doing special punctuation and numbers. Dragon is especially helpful with text containing a lot of the latter. In addition, Dragon knows how to spell! I bought the French edition of DNS (v.13, Premium) because I knew that I could configure two separate user profiles for myself: one for dictation in English and another for French. That has worked out perfectly. This dual-language capability is not available for all language combinations, however.

Cons:

The software itself is quite perfected. There is a challenging learning curve and one must learn many voice commands in order to edit using voice. On the other hand, the keyboard is still operative and it is quite feasible to mix voice and keyboard work. My most serious complaint is not about Nuance's DNS, but about some programs by others that do not support it well. For example, I use MS Office 365 and DNS works well with Word and Excel, but not with OneNote (however, it does work well with Evernote). It is not supported well by some online translation platforms like Memsource, which some of my clients require me to use. So if you plan on using it with specialized applications or platforms, you will need to verify that DNS is supported.

The Perfect Author's Assistant

Comments: I do some of my most creative writing late at night. I’ll set up Dragon and then just start talking without paying attention to the program. If I get stuck I’ll just think of something else and just start talking again. I won’t even check my work at the end of the night. Just save it and go to bed. The next day I’ll go over it and be amazed at the quality of most of the copy I’ve written. The text seems noticeably improved over what I write when I’m poking and pecking at a keyboard.

Pros:

I'm an author. I've written a book and many short articles that were published in a variety of online magazines. I have been using the Dragon Speech Recognition software for over 3 years and I love it. I'm not a great typist and in the past I'd have an idea but my sluggish typing would slow me down before I could get my thoughts recorded. With Dragon you simply speak and the software does the typing. While Dragon unquestionably saves you time and effort, more importantly it allows you to maintain your train of thought and commit your ideas much more concisely. Dragon has positively improved the efficiency and the quality of my writing.

Cons:

Dragon does make mistakes. It Claims to have a 99% accuracy rate but that means if you are writing a 1000 word essay, you’ll have 10 mistakes. You definitely have to go over your work and fix any problems. Dragon creates a user profile. Over time it ‘learns’ your voice and pronunciations and improves its accuracy. Dragon also has difficulty with punctuation. I deal with it by speaking the punctuation where I need it. When I end a sentence I’ll say the word “period” or “question mark”. Doing this, while using Dragon, gets to be second nature very quickly. In my opinion Dragon’s benefits far outweigh its minor shortcomings.

Excellent software that speeds your workflow

Pros:

This software enables me to run my business efficiently and quickly. The dictation is highly accurate. Editing is easy. I have used this software for decades and it has developed into a useful and necessary tool.

Cons:

Navigation could be improved. It can be difficult to navigate around certain webpages.

Works like a charm

Comments: If you are in language transcription business or medical transcription business or just have a lot of tying to do, don’t give it a second thought and just buy this. It’s incredible at what it does with Speed and Accuracy. It could really save you a lot of time but it takes a while to get to know the commands and get your voice recognised in all scenarios. Overall a great product 👍🏻

Pros:

1) Accuracy is one of the best things about it. 2) Speed is another aspect that it scores highly. I talk really fast, but it still manages to write down almost all of it. 3) Command Set is pretty easy to understand and get used to. 4)Huge Time saver - If you are into Transcription business like me, it’s a dream come true. You can get so much done in such little time and ofcourse earn more 🙂

Cons:

1) RAM consumption is a lot with this software. You can’t really multitask if it’s open. 2) Sometimes it starts to lag behind in the writing process, but that rarely happens. 3) Comprehensive inbuilt Grammar check is missing which would really take this software to a new level.

Dragon Is The Premier Voice to Text Solution With Excellent Voice Command Editing

Comments: I have been very pleased with Dragon Professional. I have used it for years and every version I use gets better. My needs and use is rather basic. I don't use a lot of advanced features. What I do use is excellent and lets me get the job done effectively and efficiently.

Pros:

The quality of voice recognition is outstanding! This alone makes Dragon stand out. Add to that the ability to effectively edit documents by voice alone and nothing else I've tried compares. Very very good.

Cons:

To get the best benefit you need to train the software. It's not hard. It's worth it. It's also somewhat annoying.

No tech support

Comments: I have abandoned Dragon and am now using windows speech recognition. So far I am very happy with a new product and wish I had switched long ago. I do not want to use the software of a company that fails to give technical support, no matter how good the product is. Oh by the way, for the one problem I trawled through the tech support sites over and over, trying to find solutions to, in particular, the one problem. Nothing.

Pros:

I used Dragon Naturallyspeaking Professional Individual 14 for a number of years. Recognition accuracy is excellent. The ability to create custom commands this is superb. The software has a great deal going for it.

Cons:

I had two technical problems that were very seriously hindering my capacity to use the program. All attempts to get a tech support failed. On one occassion I was referred to an independent software support accompanying called Just Answer and after paying about $30 still did not have my problem fixed (only tried to fix one of them on that occasion).

The only full service voice dictation software.

Comments: Very cheap and effective Medical dictation software.

Pros:

First of all this is really all about the Medical edition of the software. I support 50 doctors who use this software on a daily basis. I have users who speak at barely a whisper and then I have doctors who will speak so loudly and fast to dictate you would think they are having a shouting match with someone. It can be trained to pick up speech patterns and accents. It's a very accurate piece of software and each version keeps getting better. The dedicated support team we have access to with Dragon is top notch as well. On average they respond to my odd ball problems within an hour and have some potential fixes.

Cons:

There are times when Dragon will start lagging and not properly dictate, this is annoying but it can be fixed. Since we use Citrix in our environment we have to occasionally run a program to restore vSync and after doing so Dragon is back to picking everything up.

Best Speech Recognition, Hands Down. Literally.

Comments: Overall this software is the best of its kind. It may not come with my personal vocabulary completely represented, but it can learn what it doesn't already know and I don't have to argue with it over whether I said *Rub a conservative amount of ointment on the entire area." or "Rubber serving plenary arias." (Actual real life mistake from a leading competitor's speech recognition software we have all had the displeasure of dealing with when sending messages in the car). It's the first thing I install on any new device I purchase.

Pros:

It's accurate and doesn't force you to repeat the same sentence at it so many times you catch yourself screaming at an inanimate object in front of a busy lobby full of clients.

Cons:

I would like to see a larger dictionary from initial setup and a more intuitive punctuation algorithm.

Very irritating

Comments: Having used this software for over 15 years I have finally given up on it and changed to an online free service that is not only good, but doesn't use up massive amounts of computer resources, and interfere with other running processes running on the computer and gives a surprisingly accurate output albeit not as sophisticated as Dragon.

Pros:

Its basically a very good program but recent upgraqdes have become increasingly buggy, and have incompatibility problems with windows 10 that causes crashes and freezes and random changes in font size and configurations.

Cons:

The company takes no notice of customer complaints about the program, and have made no attempt to correct them or issue upgrades to overcome them. Trying to anyone to help in managing these problems is almost impossible.

Dragon NS review

Comments: Overall, mediocre support but does what it intends to do.

Pros:

I'm a pretty fast typist, but when you're seeing a patient, your eyes should be on the patient, rather than on the computer. That being said, this software helps translate my speech into words pretty well, and is more cost-effective than hiring a scribe. It supports multiple languages, and the software is smart - it learns as it goes and gets better with each iteration.

Cons:

If you want answers, it's difficult to get answers. Forget about searching for them. Customer support can be better.

Great things can happen, but you need to be patient

Pros:

In general, I love the software but we've had a long love/hate relationship for about three years. It's taken that long for me to really optimize my set up so that it runs well. I love the customizable vocabulary as well as being able to dictate without Internet connectivity. I like the fact that I can focus on content rather than typing when dictating. Actually, I am dictating this review with Dragon for Mac.

Cons:

Microphone selection is a really big deal. You may have to try a few to get one that works well for you. It takes a while to learn how to use the software. Nuance could do more to make on boarding easier. The Windows version is significantly better than the Mac version in terms of voice recognition and text handling within an application. It's definitely worth the price, but you're going to have to put a fair amount of work into optimizing how it works. Don't think of it as Siri on steroids. Dragon dictate does a lot more and thus the set up takes a bit more tweaking than holding a button-down on your iPhone.

Allows for efficient multi tasking

Comments: Overall experience has been very satisfactory. I have cut my work time in half.

Pros:

The ability to just be able to speak and have it transcribe accurately and quickly. I do student assessments and curriculum adjustments daily. It is time consuming if you are stuck at the keyboard all day. This allows me to get other tasks accomplished simultaneously. Spelling is usually error free and it gets accustomed to words and phrases you use often. I am getting so many words per minute accomplished using this method rather than typing.

Cons:

A little pricey. I would recommend for people who will use it multiple times per week to make it cost efficient. You may want to invest in a good microphone. I got one online at a reasonable price. my children are Home schooled and also use it from time to time. If you are using this for children be sure they speak loudly and clearly as it may make more errors when words are not spoken clearly. Cumbersome installation but worth it in the end!

Worked well quickly after install.

Comments: Time saver +++++

Pros:

Good accuracy, quick use. Commands functions work well. Accuracy improves with time. Multiple licenses help.

Cons:

Australian accent pick up sometimes not accurate. "microphone off" command sometimes difficult with background noise.

excellence

Comments: I use it daily and it works very well, no other speech recognition software comes close to the speed and accuracy of this software

Pros:

I love that it allows people with disabilities to do things on a computer that anyone else can do, it is fast and responsive to your voice, I like that it allows for different members of your family to have their own user on the same software

Cons:

there is nothing that I do not like about this software. It is very nice to be able to do things on my own, the price of the preferred is a little high compared to the regular addition that does pretty much the same work