At a Glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
Lee 'Dragon Dictate 2.5 Visual QuickStart Guide' por Maria Langer disponible en Rakuten Kobo. The book walks readers through how to train Dragon Dictate, allowing it to recognize the way readers speak. Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide - Ebook written by Maria Langer. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide. Unless you know exactly what you want to say and how to say it as you dictate using Dragon Dictate 2.5, you'll likely need to edit the original text to make changes in content and formatting. Dragon Dictate can help you do that, and Maria Langer shows you how. This chapter is from the book Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide.
- Microphone auto-sleep setting
- New social network posting features
- Improved operation with Microsoft Word 2011
- Auto formatting prefs choose how words are typed
Cons
- Editing still a bit cumbersome
- Dictate-and-edit feature only for Word 2011
- Occasional crashes
Our Verdict
The latest version of Dragon Dictate is similar to the last version we reviewed (version 2.0, in October, 2010), but brings several small changes, along with one important new feature to the program. Dragon Dictate (and its predecessor MacSpeech) have long depended on what they call the 'golden rule,' which said that you could not both dictate into a document and edit it using the keyboard. While you've been able to ignore this rule using the program's built-in notepad, you could not both dictate and edit in other applications, notably Microsoft Word.
Dragon Dictate 2.5 allows users to 'violate' the golden rule with Microsoft Word 2011 (). This has long been possible with Nuance's Windows program, Naturally Speaking, but this feature was not available to Mac users. This was also one of the features I mentioned was lacking in the previous review of Dragon Dictate. (I will essentially discuss the program's performance and how it works with Microsoft Word in this review. Please see the previous review for broader discussion of Dragon Dictate's features.)
To test this new version of Dragon Dictate, I used my 13-inch 1.7GHz Core i5 MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM—this model is at the lower end of the performance scale of the current Mac lineup. Dragon Dictate takes up a fair amount of space; the application itself is not very large, but there is 1.4GB of support files. For this reason, using it on a laptop with a small hard drive or SSD may be a problem for some.
I found the program's performance to be excellent on this Mac, and I definitely have the feeling that accuracy has improved a bit in this new version. (A Nuance spokesperson said that he had heard this from several users, but that the underlying recognition has not changed. There may, however, be some improvement in audio processing that leads to better accuracy.)
In the program's Recognition preferences, there is a slider where you can choose whether you want the program to prioritize speed or accuracy. Dragging it all the way to the Accuracy end, typing was a bit sluggish, but accuracy was excellent. When I moved it to the Speed end, accuracy was a bit less precise but words appeared on the screen almost immediately, every time I paused. However, some annoying common errors occurred: Dragon Dictate would often type 'and' when I said 'end.' Adjusting the slider setting to the center turned out to be the best solution.
As with past versions, I found it much easier to edit by hand rather than to use the program to navigate through texts and dictate corrections and replacements. I did use the program's Recognition window to make changes at the ends of phrases or sentences. In this manner, when Dragon Dictate isn't exactly sure what you said, it displays a number of choices. If the text typed is not correct, you look at this window, find the number of the text that corresponds what you said, and then say, 'pick three,' for example. For other corrections—such as inserting an apostrophe before the letter 'S,' or correcting the spelling of homonyms—it was much simpler to do when I reread my documents after I'd finished dictating them. Since you can now dictate and edit in the same document with Microsoft Word, it's easier to edit on the fly. I tend to dictate a paragraph or so, edit, then go on to the next paragraph.
There were occasional problems during my tests. The program crashed several times, generally when I was editing text in the program's notepad. Sometimes, when editing text, the program would get confused and lose its place, and start typing words or letters where I did not intend it to. But this occurred much less than with version 2.0. In addition, I gave Dragon Dictate some difficult texts to type. In addition to dictating this review, some emails, and other texts about computers, I read some passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson's journals and from Henry David Thoreau's Walden. While these texts contain some archaic words —for which I needed to use the program's spelling mode and spell them out letter by letter—for the most part, Dragon Dictate succeeded quite well.
Dragon Dictate 2.5 adds some small features that make working with the program easier. Two new commands let you post to Facebook and Twitter; you log in via Dragon Dictate's preferences, and you can easily dictate a post in seconds without leaving the application. A new Auto Formatting dialog lets you choose how you want numbers, addresses, dates and times, and more to be formatted. And an auto-sleep setting lets you have the microphone go into sleep mode after a pause; by default, this is one minute, but you can change it to from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Another new feature in Dragon Dictate 2.5 is the availability of a free iOS app that can turn an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (with a microphone attached) into a mike for dictating. This isn't ideal, but, in a pinch, one might wish to use this mobile app to dictate if another microphone is not available.
Macworld's buying advice
Dragon Dictate has taken a big leap forward with this new version, finally offering the ability to dictate and edit simultaneously in Word documents. Microsoft Word is the most commonly used word processor, but there is a need for this feature to be available in all programs. I hope a forthcoming update to Dragon Dictate will offer this feature.
[Senior contributor Kirk McElhearn writes about more than just Macs on his blog Kirkville. Twitter: @mcelhearn. Kirk is the author of Take Control of Scrivener 2.]
Dragon Dictate Editor's Review
Take control of your Mac with this awesome voice utility.
Dragon Dictate Iphone
I've been a big supporter of, 'you talk, it types' for over 10 years. I remember using IBM's ViaVoice on my Windows XP powered PC back in 1997. While it was, at times, wonderful to be able to give my arthritic hands a break from the amount of typing I do, its performance issues often prevented the creative process from really flowing the way it should have. Writers write. However, it's not always easy to do when you have to....speak....very...slowly, and very...exactingly. All that's changed now; and thanks to Dragon Dictate for Mac, I've got my MacBook Pro turning cartwheels.
I type between 65-70 words per minute on average. However, I talk about a mile a minute...or at least my grandmother used to say so. With Dragon Dictate for Mac, I can input text just by speaking – up to three times faster than typing – using only my voice. With Dragon Dictate I or any user can produce reports, e-mail, articles, books, research notes, online content, and more with an astonishing level of accuracy. You'll get more done faster and with less stress and more success. While it does require a bit of vocal training, it takes just minutes; and it has an astounding recognition accuracy rate of up to 99% right out of the box.
If you're a productivity junky, like me, then you're going to love this application. With it, you can control your Mac in a relaxed, hands-free manner without being tied to your keyboard. Instead of using your mouse, you can just speak commands to launch and control applications. You can move the cursor or click anywhere on your screen simply by using your voice. You can tell your Mac what to do, like 'Reply To This Message' or 'Open Microsoft Word' or 'Jump To Google' to work faster and smarter. Create voice commands that automate complex workflows on your Mac.
Pro's: You talk it types, complete control of your computer
Expert's Rating
Pros
Lee 'Dragon Dictate 2.5 Visual QuickStart Guide' por Maria Langer disponible en Rakuten Kobo. The book walks readers through how to train Dragon Dictate, allowing it to recognize the way readers speak. Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide - Ebook written by Maria Langer. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide. Unless you know exactly what you want to say and how to say it as you dictate using Dragon Dictate 2.5, you'll likely need to edit the original text to make changes in content and formatting. Dragon Dictate can help you do that, and Maria Langer shows you how. This chapter is from the book Dragon Dictate 2.5: Visual QuickStart Guide.
- Microphone auto-sleep setting
- New social network posting features
- Improved operation with Microsoft Word 2011
- Auto formatting prefs choose how words are typed
Cons
- Editing still a bit cumbersome
- Dictate-and-edit feature only for Word 2011
- Occasional crashes
Our Verdict
The latest version of Dragon Dictate is similar to the last version we reviewed (version 2.0, in October, 2010), but brings several small changes, along with one important new feature to the program. Dragon Dictate (and its predecessor MacSpeech) have long depended on what they call the 'golden rule,' which said that you could not both dictate into a document and edit it using the keyboard. While you've been able to ignore this rule using the program's built-in notepad, you could not both dictate and edit in other applications, notably Microsoft Word.
Dragon Dictate 2.5 allows users to 'violate' the golden rule with Microsoft Word 2011 (). This has long been possible with Nuance's Windows program, Naturally Speaking, but this feature was not available to Mac users. This was also one of the features I mentioned was lacking in the previous review of Dragon Dictate. (I will essentially discuss the program's performance and how it works with Microsoft Word in this review. Please see the previous review for broader discussion of Dragon Dictate's features.)
To test this new version of Dragon Dictate, I used my 13-inch 1.7GHz Core i5 MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM—this model is at the lower end of the performance scale of the current Mac lineup. Dragon Dictate takes up a fair amount of space; the application itself is not very large, but there is 1.4GB of support files. For this reason, using it on a laptop with a small hard drive or SSD may be a problem for some.
I found the program's performance to be excellent on this Mac, and I definitely have the feeling that accuracy has improved a bit in this new version. (A Nuance spokesperson said that he had heard this from several users, but that the underlying recognition has not changed. There may, however, be some improvement in audio processing that leads to better accuracy.)
In the program's Recognition preferences, there is a slider where you can choose whether you want the program to prioritize speed or accuracy. Dragging it all the way to the Accuracy end, typing was a bit sluggish, but accuracy was excellent. When I moved it to the Speed end, accuracy was a bit less precise but words appeared on the screen almost immediately, every time I paused. However, some annoying common errors occurred: Dragon Dictate would often type 'and' when I said 'end.' Adjusting the slider setting to the center turned out to be the best solution.
As with past versions, I found it much easier to edit by hand rather than to use the program to navigate through texts and dictate corrections and replacements. I did use the program's Recognition window to make changes at the ends of phrases or sentences. In this manner, when Dragon Dictate isn't exactly sure what you said, it displays a number of choices. If the text typed is not correct, you look at this window, find the number of the text that corresponds what you said, and then say, 'pick three,' for example. For other corrections—such as inserting an apostrophe before the letter 'S,' or correcting the spelling of homonyms—it was much simpler to do when I reread my documents after I'd finished dictating them. Since you can now dictate and edit in the same document with Microsoft Word, it's easier to edit on the fly. I tend to dictate a paragraph or so, edit, then go on to the next paragraph.
There were occasional problems during my tests. The program crashed several times, generally when I was editing text in the program's notepad. Sometimes, when editing text, the program would get confused and lose its place, and start typing words or letters where I did not intend it to. But this occurred much less than with version 2.0. In addition, I gave Dragon Dictate some difficult texts to type. In addition to dictating this review, some emails, and other texts about computers, I read some passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson's journals and from Henry David Thoreau's Walden. While these texts contain some archaic words —for which I needed to use the program's spelling mode and spell them out letter by letter—for the most part, Dragon Dictate succeeded quite well.
Dragon Dictate 2.5 adds some small features that make working with the program easier. Two new commands let you post to Facebook and Twitter; you log in via Dragon Dictate's preferences, and you can easily dictate a post in seconds without leaving the application. A new Auto Formatting dialog lets you choose how you want numbers, addresses, dates and times, and more to be formatted. And an auto-sleep setting lets you have the microphone go into sleep mode after a pause; by default, this is one minute, but you can change it to from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Another new feature in Dragon Dictate 2.5 is the availability of a free iOS app that can turn an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (with a microphone attached) into a mike for dictating. This isn't ideal, but, in a pinch, one might wish to use this mobile app to dictate if another microphone is not available.
Macworld's buying advice
Dragon Dictate has taken a big leap forward with this new version, finally offering the ability to dictate and edit simultaneously in Word documents. Microsoft Word is the most commonly used word processor, but there is a need for this feature to be available in all programs. I hope a forthcoming update to Dragon Dictate will offer this feature.
[Senior contributor Kirk McElhearn writes about more than just Macs on his blog Kirkville. Twitter: @mcelhearn. Kirk is the author of Take Control of Scrivener 2.]
Dragon Dictate Editor's Review
Take control of your Mac with this awesome voice utility.
Dragon Dictate Iphone
I've been a big supporter of, 'you talk, it types' for over 10 years. I remember using IBM's ViaVoice on my Windows XP powered PC back in 1997. While it was, at times, wonderful to be able to give my arthritic hands a break from the amount of typing I do, its performance issues often prevented the creative process from really flowing the way it should have. Writers write. However, it's not always easy to do when you have to....speak....very...slowly, and very...exactingly. All that's changed now; and thanks to Dragon Dictate for Mac, I've got my MacBook Pro turning cartwheels.
I type between 65-70 words per minute on average. However, I talk about a mile a minute...or at least my grandmother used to say so. With Dragon Dictate for Mac, I can input text just by speaking – up to three times faster than typing – using only my voice. With Dragon Dictate I or any user can produce reports, e-mail, articles, books, research notes, online content, and more with an astonishing level of accuracy. You'll get more done faster and with less stress and more success. While it does require a bit of vocal training, it takes just minutes; and it has an astounding recognition accuracy rate of up to 99% right out of the box.
If you're a productivity junky, like me, then you're going to love this application. With it, you can control your Mac in a relaxed, hands-free manner without being tied to your keyboard. Instead of using your mouse, you can just speak commands to launch and control applications. You can move the cursor or click anywhere on your screen simply by using your voice. You can tell your Mac what to do, like 'Reply To This Message' or 'Open Microsoft Word' or 'Jump To Google' to work faster and smarter. Create voice commands that automate complex workflows on your Mac.
Pro's: You talk it types, complete control of your computer
Dragon Dictate Help
Con's: System intensive. Requires some heavy hardware to keep your Mac running at an acceptable level of performance
Conclusion: Dragon Dictate for Mac was built to give users the experience they expect from their favorite Mac apps. It provides an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that dramatically boosts your productivity. What's more, Dragon Dictate for Mac works with your favorite Apple applications, including Mail, iChat, iCal, TextEdit, Pages, and Safari.
You'll need to insure that you have a powerful enough Mac to push this app, however. The biggest issue with this app was system performance and what my Mac was doing with other processor cores and available RAM. You'll also find that you need a specialized microphone in order to get the best performance from the app. Please don't think that you're going to be able to use the microphone that may be built into your Mac and get really great voice to text recognition. It just isn't going to happen. A standard gaming headset should do very well.