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Thread Title: DRAGON/VOICE ACTIVATED DEVICES??
Created On Friday April 14, 2006 3:45 PM

rumbler
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Friday April 14, 2006 3:45 PM

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Does anybody have expereince with the Dragon Naturally Speaking or other voice-activated programs that would be compatible with HP Paviloin a1 101n (2005 model)?

How sophisticated a program can one get to decrease manual keyboarding, etc. and perform functions with an "expanded vocabulary" including medical/legal?

What are the pros and cons? Approximate cost of these systems?

Would I need to relace the harddrive with something with more memory in order to optimize useage of these programs?

Or, what would be the BEST set-up, computer and program-wise?
(The "dream machine"), or something middle of the road...

Thank you all in advance for any input/suggestions!

Edited: Friday April 14, 2006 at 4:30 PM by rumbler

Doeadeer
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Friday April 14, 2006 6:26 PM

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Intelﾮ Pentiumﾮ III / 500 MHz processor (or equivalent AMDﾮ processor)
256 MB RAM
500 MB free hard disk space
Microsoftﾮ Windowsﾮ XP (SP1 or higher; includes XP Tablet Edition) Home and Professional, Millennium, 2000 (SP4 or higher)
Creativeﾮ Sound Blasterﾮ 16 or equivalent sound card supporting 16-bit recording
Microsoftﾮ Internet Explorer 5 or higher (free download available at www.microsoft.com)
CD-ROM drive (required for installation)
Nuance-approved noise-canceling headset microphone (not included with upgrades)
Speakers (required for playback of recorded speech and text-to-speech features)
A Web connection is required for activation

rumbler
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Friday April 14, 2006 6:50 PM

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Whoa(adeer)!! !! THANKS! It kinda looks like Greek to me, but I think friend will know this.

Is the Dragon Naturally Speaking the best product for all this, or can you recommend something else?

Gosh, this is going to be a very interesting learning process, as I am pretty much "technically challenged" re computers...

Thanks again for the info!

Curious George
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Friday April 14, 2006 8:22 PM

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Hi Rumbler, long time no talk.

I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 7 and love it, although at times . it can be very frustrating. It takes lots of training and patience, as well as a good sense the humor at some of the things it types.

Once I've trained it, it will type words specific to the type of work I do, that are not used many other places.

My employer purchased it for me as an accommodation. I have the neck injury , and it helps tremendously not have to look at the keyboard .when I'm typing.

I have it on a Dell D600 laptop with only a 40G hard drive w/512MB. Most of my documents are kept on the server at work, so it works fine and is not sluggest.

I also use it on my home computer which has a 200G hard drive 1 GB of memory.

Having a high quality head set (microphone) is key to accurate documents. I have tried a variety of them. The one the comes with the program is marginal. I would suggest buying a higher quality microphrone headset.

The biggest problem I have is that I am left-handed. The "Dragon" doesn't recognize left-handed mouse commands. I have to remember to change the mouse setting from left to right, so I can use formating, etc commands.

I highly reccommend it for anyone with the time and patience to train. It is essential to have a good sense of humor when it starts typing on it's own.

You do have to proof read everything carefully, esp. if you are using it to send out emails. We have had some pretty funny ones sent out Luckily the reciepents were good natured about being told "you suck" rather than "see you there"!!

It can get you it trouble, if you aren't careful!

Hope this helps

Curious George

rumbler
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Friday April 14, 2006 9:52 PM

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Hi Curious George and doeadeer--

Ok--this is what I think I have:

Celeron 2.93
504 MG RAM
103GB hard drive

Think it will fly??

CG: what brand headset do you have? Aprprox cost, if you know?

Thank you all so much for the info (even though I need translation service...)!!!

Curious George
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Saturday April 15, 2006 4:52 AM

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Hi Rumbler:

I have a Plantronics head set. I don't know the model number as my employer bought for me. I think the cost was around $60.00-80.00. They bought it at Comp USA.

You seem to have plenty of RAM (memory) and a large enough hard drive. MY only question would be abut your processor. Doeadeer gave you the minimum processor required

Intel Pentium III / 500 MHz processor

Intel Processors and Celeon processors are two very different processors and are like comparing dogs to cats. Perhaps your friend can translate your Celeron into the Intel equivalent. A computer sales person should also be able to tell you what the equivalent is. If you like, I can ask the computer guy at work on Monday, he would know.

FYI: All software lists the minimum requirements on the package, so if you are looking at the various voice activated software programs, you can get an idea of the computer requirements needed to use with a specific software program.

I used the "Dragon" to types these posts. The first time I typed "Rumbler", He, "the Dragon" typed all sorts of things ie Rome being, Run a beer, etc. I had to add Rumber to my user files by spelling it out.

When I typed this post, he (the Dragon) remembered your name and typed it correctly the first time, even Capitalizing your name. I have used Dragon for 6 months and am still training him with new words. This is what takes so long at times to type anything using the Dragon, so it does take so patience, esp. if you are using "unusal" words.

Hint: When you first install the Dragon, it reviews all your files and emails to get a sense of the type of words you use and will try to match your dictation to words it has picked up from your files. This is very helpful if you are going to use medical/legal terms.

Question: You posted this under Voc Rehab. Are you going to get the software through them? I have had co-workers try to use software they got through Voc Rehab, and many times it is another software program that doesn't work as well as the Dragon. My employer ends up giving that co-worker Dragon and won't install any other program, even if it comes from Voc Rehab.

Good Luck with this

Curious George

Edited: Saturday April 15, 2006 at 5:18 AM by Curious George

rumbler
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Saturday April 15, 2006 7:13 AM

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Hi Curios George--Thank you (and doeadeer) for all this wonder ful technical info about the Dragon!!

I posted it under Voc Rehab as I am researching my options when it is medically feasible to participate. In retrospect, I probably should have asked under General, as the information might be more useful to more IWs who may need this type of equipment, even if not for Voc Rehab. Maybe there is a way to transfer the info up there by the WCC Tech.

It is absolutely amazing that all your posts have been typed in "Dragonian"!! WOW!

For now, I would like to purchase what I need and start practicing so that when/if I can go to Voc Rehab, I won't be bogged down by the learning curve of the Dragon.

Perhaps, if I can become relatively proficient, maybe I can get reimbursed. Or, at least, if my system is not adequate, then perhaps Voc Rehab could provide me with Specifically-needed upgrades/equipment to make the system really work. No clue how that one works....just going one step at a time!

Thanks again for all your very kind assistance!! Its' a little too early in the a.m. for a "run-a-beer" but how about sometime in the future ?

Cheers!

mataharione
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Thursday April 20, 2006 8:12 PM

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if you are a fast talker, like myself, Dragon never keeps up...but if I was going to injure myself typing or it was do or die, I guess I could slow down.

Curious George
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Sunday April 23, 2006 5:55 PM

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I encourage anyone thinking about using Voice Activated Software to think of it, as learning a new skill.

Using the Dragon (Or any other dictation program) is like doing anything that takes using a skill---Practice, Practice, Practice. The Dragon will adjust to your speaking pattern, you just need to keep practicing.

I compare learning to use the Dragon to learning Tai Chi. Before going to my first class, I thought how hard can this be? Boy, was I "put in my place" fast. My classmates were quite kind to me and willing to help me. I felt like I had two left feet and was so tired afterwards I went home and slept for four hours.

Please don't give up on using the Dragon. It saves tremendous wear and tear on not only your hands, but also your neck.

Curious George

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