Voice Recognition Software, Best Voice Recognition Software Reviews

Best voice-recognition software

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred

*Est. $145 Compare Prices

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred is almost universally regarded in reviews as the best voice-recognition software, with the potential for 99.8 percent accuracy (reviews say 95 percent is more realistic).… NaturallySpeaking integrates easily with Microsoft productivity software. The Preferred version can also be used with a compatible digital-audio recorder, MP3 player/recorder or PDA for recording voice notes or lectures on the go; NaturallySpeaking will later transcribe your recordings. Reviews say Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the most sophisticated product on the market, but that if you have Windows Vista or plan to buy a new computer with it, you should try the voice-recognition capabilities included with Vista, which by most accounts are nearly as robust as Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

The New York Times: Technology writer David Pogue favorably compares Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 with iListen for the Macintosh, although he says ...

CBSNews.com: Veteran technology writer Larry Magid tests and uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 and the voice-recognition feature in the beta ...

CNet.com: Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9 receives a CNET editors' rating of excellent, but an average user rating. Reviewer Elsa ...

Amazon.com: Over 240 owner reviews combine to give Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred a slightly above average score, with almost a quarter ...

TrustedReviews.com: Reviewer Simon Williams says Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred is better than version 8. He achieves about 96 percent accuracy ...

Arstechnica.com: Reviewer Nate Anderson tests Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Professional for about two weeks, and notes cheaper versions use the same ...

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Amazon

for $135.49

NothingButS- oftware.com

for $89.95

Amazon Marketplace

for $88.29

Basic voice-recognition software

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Standard

*Est. $60 Compare Prices

The Standard edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 works with Outlook Express, AOL Instant Messenger, MS Word, IE and WordPerfect, but not Excel. The Standard edition doesn't support portable voice recorders, either.… However, NaturallySpeaking Standard has the same excellent speech-recognition engine as other versions. All versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice-recognition software are Windows-only.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

The New York Times: Technology writer David Pogue favorably compares Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 with iListen for the Macintosh, although he says ...

CBSNews.com: Veteran technology writer Larry Magid tests and uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 and the voice-recognition feature in the beta ...

Arstechnica.com: Reviewer Nate Anderson tests Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Professional for about two weeks, and notes cheaper versions use the same ...

Amazon.com: About 160 owner reviews give the Standard version slightly above average ratings, with some complaints about compatibility and ...

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Amazon

for $71.99

NothingButS- oftware.com

for $49.95

Amazon Marketplace

for $69.25

Voice recognition included with Vista

Windows Vista

(starting at *est. $95) Compare Prices

Windows Vista includes a feature called Windows Speech Recognition. Early reviews say it rivals Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 for accuracy. If you buy a new computer, you'll get Vista by default, so you can try out its… voice-recognition features before buying other software. You can also upgrade an older computer to Vista, but the system requirements are demanding. Reviewers say Dragon NaturallySpeaking has a slight edge, but cite no compelling reason to buy it if you have or plan to buy Vista.

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Speech recognition for old computers

IBM ViaVoice 10 Standard

*Est. $45 Compare Prices

We didn't find a single review that recommends ViaVoice over Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but ViaVoice is the only program that will run on older or less powerful computers. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is extremely demanding… (you need at the very least 512 MB RAM, a recent processor and 1 GB free hard-drive space). However, reviews say ViaVoice isn't as accurate as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and mistakes aren't as easy to correct. ViaVoice hasn't been updated in years.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

Digital Bits: Andy Kaiser, a computer consultant and technology columnist, compares and contrasts the current version of IBM ViaVoice with the ...

CNet.com: This review is old enough that CNet has removed all but the three-star rating (out of five) from its website, and a brief capsule ...

Small Business Computing.com: Reviewer Gerry Blackwell doesn't compare ViaVoice to any other product. He describes training the program as "tedious" and says ...

Amazon.com: About a dozen owner reviewers give the Pro version of ViaVoice a combined rating of average, but most aren't very impressed. ...

Amazon.com: About a dozen owner reviewers give the Mac version of ViaVoice a below average score. Most say they can't get it to work because ...

Amazon.com: A handful of owner reviewers give the advanced version of ViaVoice (for Windows 98/Me) an above average score. Most say it works ...

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Best speech-recognition software for Mac

MacSpeech Dictate

*Est. $165 Compare Prices

Reviews say Dictate, introduced in early 2008, is based on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine. In tests, it is as accurate as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and much better than the previous MacSpeech program, iListen.… Dictate comes with a microphone headset. No products directly compete with Dictate.

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Expert & User Review Sources:

The New York Times: The second half of this article covers MacSpeech Dictate, which veteran technology writer David Pogue says is based on Dragon ...

Amazon.com: About 65 user reviewers give MacSpeech a slightly below average rating, but about half of them give it one or two stars. The ...

Small Business and Solo Law Practice Blog: While not offering the formal testing process of a traditional review, lawyer Victor Medina competently compares MacSpeech ...

MacApper.com: Jacob Schulman's testing isn't really fair because he uses the microphone built into his laptop instead of the one provided by ...

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for $151.49

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