Product: Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred
Company: Dragon Systems, Inc.
Website: http://www.dragonsys.com/index.html
Estimated Street Price: $199.00
Review By: Matthew Sabean

Introduction

As I am always on the look out for another time saving program I was very excited in receiving and reviewing the new Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred voice recognition program.  We would like to thank the people over at Dragon Systems, Inc. for providing us with this program to evaluate and review.  Over the next few pages I will try and touch on some of the main features of this program.  Also as an added challenge, all text entries in this review will be entered using the Dragon NaturallySpeaking program.

For myself my idea of a new software program is to just pop the CD in, set up the program, and your ready to dive head first into the program.  Dragon NaturallySpeaking is certainly an exception to this users rule.  Sure the set up was easy and fast but when it came down to actually using this program I found myself constantly referring to the well designed and helpful Quick Start Guide, Quick Reference Guide, and the extensive 163 page Users Guide for help. All that I can say is "Read The Material".  It will provide you with a much better learning experience.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you talk to almost any Windows program instead of typing. As you speak, your words are transcribed onto your screen and into your document. You can dictate into Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, e-mail programs, personal information organizers, and virtually any other program in which you normally type.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking isn’t just for typing, however. You can also use your voice to start programs, open menus, and click buttons. If you use Internet Explorer to browse the Web, you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to follow links and go to favorite sites by voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred Features:

• Broad Compatibility - Dictate into virtually any Windows application, including Microsoft® Word 97 & 2000, Corel WordPerfect 8 & 9, America Online, and Lotus Notes. Even activate pull-down menus and issue voice commands like "Insert table" or "Print file" in Microsoft Office 97 & 2000.
• Fast Setup - Learns your voice in just five minutes so you can be up and running quickly!
• Internet-Friendly - Browse the Web, open links and chat online when using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 & 5.0.
• Very Large Vocabulary - A vocabulary of 250,000 terms and more than 160,000 active words assures that: What you say is what you get.
• Fully Integrated With Word - NaturalWord provides access to Microsoft Word 97 & 2000 and Corel WordPerfect 8 & 9 functionality by voice. Dragon NaturallySpeaking functions are displayed on the menu bar.
• Natural Language Commands - Navigate, edit and format in Microsoft Word 97 & 2000 by saying intuitive commands - no need to memorize a long list of special phrases.
• Control Your Desktop - Open applications from the Start menu, switch from one application to another, give commands like "Start Internet Explorer" by voice.
• Select-And-Say Editing - Navigate, format, and edit text by voice in Microsoft Word 97 & 2000, Corel WordPerfect 8 & 9, GoldMine 4.0, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft WordPad, and Microsoft Chat 2.1 and 2.5
• Dictation Playback and Text-To-Speech - Play back what you said in your own voice. Have your computer read e-mail and other documents aloud.
• Dictate On The Move - Use a Dragon Systems-certified recorder (sold separately) to capture your dictation for automatic transcription when you're away from your computer.
• Multiple User Support - Different users can share the same program by creating and storing their voice files on the same computer.
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers free telephone support for 30 days, and unlimited Web-based technical support..