Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred Mobile 10.0 (PC DVD)

I have given this a rating of three due to the amount of trouble I went through to the software in the first place. There are it seems known issues and the manufacturers website does have some instructions so look there if you have any difficulties to get the software loaded.

This package includes a Philips 7655 voice Tracer which is a higher spec version than that is mentioned in the product description. This is a great little device and records a clear voice recordings so you can dictate away from your PC.

Giving positive this software once installed works very well. There is a necessary "training" where you read prepared passages and the software gets used to your voice, then you are off and running. You can use this in Word or e-mails or in completing product reviews on Amazon as this review has been dictated using the Dragon software. So far in this review it has been necessary to change just one word which has been mistyped so I hope you will see that it is a very practical way to complete typed documents quickly and accurately.

I think that if the problems with the installation are solved this will certainly be a five-star package without any doubt.

(This review was dictated using the Dragon NaturallySpeaking preferred mobile 10.0 software and the microphone supplied with the package.)

I have used this for about 5 hours and feel confident enough to review the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred Version 10 Mobile Edition using the tape recorder it was supplied with instead of typing on the keyboard.
The software kit comes with a well designed Philips Digital Voice Tracer (I have just manually corrected tracer from traits). This is a small tape recorder also a USB connecting lead to connect this to a USB port on your computer. Additionally there is a headset which can use with the either the digital voice recorder although it has an inbuilt microphone as well and you can also use the headphones, obviously, to connect directly into your PC to do a direct recording into the Dragon Software.
It comes with three manuals a user guide to Dragon Naturally Speaking which is a very brief booklet about 30 pages, but also on a PDF large manual with the software or on line help

There is a manual for the software which you need to convert files from the portable recorder onto the computer that I didn't find too easy to understand. The files are recorded in a format ZVR which only be voice recorder understands you then have to convert it to a 16 BIT WAV file using the Voice Tracer software for it to be able to convert to text using the transcribe function.

All the above with 4 manual correction (PDF, ZVR, WAV and traits )was output to the Dragon Pad as a RTF file. I should have said "spell" PDF etc and I continue typing only because the software is far faster than my brain and uncomfortably long pauses were occurring although the Digital Voice Recorder will automatically stop if you stop speaking.

I last used this software at Version 8 and it was fairly laborious doing voice activated corrections but this Version now Vista compatible is almost faultless even with my poor dictation.

I can see the mobile version with the recorder being very useful but speaking and correcting immediately on screen is my preference.
To use the portable voice recorder you need to create an additional voice profile for the machine as well as the one for yourself speaking directly to the PC. This needs a minimum of 30 minutes recording into the recorder. As I could not see myself doing that I copied my voice profile and then renamed it "voice recorder" which allowed me to connect and transcribe immediately.
You do need to spend a good half an hour training your own voice profile file and this in conjunction with automatic scanning of your documents and email folders builds up a useful start with few errors.
There is a basic speech recognition in Vista but having used both I can confirm this is so much better.
A confusing error message may occur saying you have no multi media option on your PC check your soundcard etc....this actually means you have not plugged the microphone into the PC.

In conclusion, an excellent and enjoyable piece of software

Beware.....Review Update May 2009
An aoftware update now is required to version 10.1.
I tried to get this and it is a 1.3 Gigabyte download which is far too large for my internet connection.
All attempts to explain this to Nuance Customer Services have fallen on deaf ears and they keep asking me to buy the Upgrade to v 10.1.
Actually it is free but about $10 posting and packaging.
Despite the fact it is registered with them, they keep asking for the serial number in all correspondence and in general very unhelpful.
I will not bother with an update.

I brought this so I could create web content quicker whilst away from my PC and when relaxed but i havn't done much yet. However, it has figured out what i say, which is neat. I have given this 5 stars because its useful. However, a few words of warning, lol. first, this is useful because it has the recorder so you can dictate in the car and away from the pc, and then have the file converted to text. However, I brought this when I got Vista, and guess what? Vista has a voice recognition system thats as good as Dragon, the only thing it doesn't do is translate recordings..... yet. I think Dragon is ahead of the curve, but if your a part timer like me and dont want the recorder Vista is the free option, if you have it. Also, to translate files you have to connect the usb, fire up the voice tracker software and download the file within its ftp type interface and then convert it to wmv. THEN you have to open Dragon and convert the WMV to text. I thought from the product details that it 'automatically' converted audio files to text documents, which it doesn't. I thought that when you plug in the usb to the voice recorder that the software would automatically find your audio, convert it and put it some place convenient in your hard drive.

However, these two little things are not so important. the product works fine. now all i have to do is get motivated to use it.

Edit - Just to add, I hardly use this now. Its not so great when driving or out and about because of background noise, PLUS you sort of have to spend time reading what was said and correcting grammer. I find that its easier to type straight into the computer. This is useful for contractual stuff, or even legal proceedings, but for blogging its more time consuming that just typing straight from the keyboard. I had dragon call me a few times to sell me the latest version and i had to tell them i just dont use it. That doesnt mean its a bad product, its just im a bit lazy and it requires effort. Its not as simple as it sounds.