[dennisw]

Seriesly....Does that Dragon work for you? I tried that stuff years ago and it was too much hassle correcting it. Maybe it has improved...I would buy the program.

If you use it can you tell me what microphone you use?

[nathanbedford]

Yes, it works well but you have to train yourself a bit. You're also quite correct, the microphone is very important. I have used a series of microphones from the ones put out by Microsoft and Logitech. Expect to pay something north of $25 and it's a good idea to get a good one for around $50. I had a very good one but the kids broke it. I had bought it when taking the advice I read on a forum which stresses the importance of microphones and microphone positioning.

When I find my dictation going off course, it is usually the result of poor audio basics which means that the microphone is wrongly positioned or the thing has somehow gone out of "tune." (There, the software made its first mistake, it heard "two" for "tune").

If you do choose to take the plunge I would recommend that you buy only the Dragon software and then only the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred which I think costs about $120 but is probably available much cheaper. You do not need the more expensive versions unless you intend to use it in a law practice or a medical practice in which case the investment is quite substantial. But the preferred version is about as good as any other version in terms of voice recognition. The others are more expensive because they contain arcane vocabulary. The vocabulary on preferred is actually quite good for things like posting on Free Republic because it has very good recognition for names like, for example, "Steny Hoyer."

If you get the software it's actually a lot of fun to get going with it. There's a standard joke here in this house, the kids know they will get no response from me when I am dictating until I say: "paragraph symbol Nathan Bedford avatar"

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