Dragon NaturallySpeaking 5.0 Essentials

One other thing is that is says the required memory is 64MG RAM. Originally that was what we had and our machine would grind trying to run the program. We went out and purchased more memory and the program runs swiftly. No grinding. Smooth.

Absolutely great product for those with nerve damage in their back, carpal tunnel, or any other medical issues that might effect the use of your arms. The program is also great for those who may not type fast. It types as fast as you speak!


Fun And Useful But Not Perfect   January 19, 2002
visionary (Minneapolis, MN USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I found this product easy to install and easy to get up and running after it walked me through a 5-minute reading process so that it could "learn" my voice. It even came with a microphone for my computer. While I'm a fairly proficient typist, I still enjoyed watching the computer do all the work for me (like any good computer program should do).

I did note that the program missed one or two words in most sentences. I will have to play with it longer to see if "training" it will actually improve the accuracy. While these words can be easily corrected in the pop-up box that you can verbally call up, it tends to slow down the process, making this product of questionable value for good typists. While I probably make more typing mistakes, they are more quickly corrected during manual typing than with the use of this program. Those who "hunt and peck" however will very likely find this program worthwhile. So far I have found that it tends to be more accurate if I give it short sentences, or if I feed it about five or six words at a time. I try to give it enough information in each sentence segment so that it can change words based on the context of the sentence. Also by giving it smaller segments I noted that they are easier to correct in the pop-up box.

For the price - this program is worth the money. It's fun to use even if slower than if I had typed the document myself. My final verdict on its usefulness for proficient typists is not in yet, as I need to give it a better workout and see if it "learns" to be more accurate. In the mean time I'm ready to sit back and have some fun watching it do most of the work for me.


Buyers Be Ware...   March 22, 2001
D. Grim (Shalimar, Fl. USA)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

I had bought this software for two reasons. 1.I'm a bad typist and thought that by using this software, I would have to not have to use the keyboard as much and 2. Because someone had left a good review about this software!

Now for the bad news, I tried to install the software and it was deffective! I tried calling the tech. support help line, which is not a toll free 800 number. They were unable to help me. They told me that they would send an email to a higher up tech support member about my problem and get back to me the next day! Guess what I never heard from them again, the following week I called the same toll number! I asked the operator to connect me with a person in charge over technical support, I of course received a recording and left my telephone number. I still have not heard from this person either! So buyers please be ware! I am greatly displeased with there service and I would not recommend them to anyone even my worst enemy!!! I will never buy anything from this company again!!!!!


A little frustrating at first but great overall   December 14, 2000
38 out of 39 found this review helpful

When I got the program all I did was install it, read it a few paragraphs so that it could recognize my pronunciation and I was ready to go. At first it would type very little of what I said but after about a half an hour or so it was writing nearly everything correctly. It was about 99% accurate and I think with a little more getting used to I will be able to type anything much faster than before. You can control nearly every program on your desktop and even the internet (although the internet is a little difficult to master on the first day). I would definitely recommend this product to anyone on a tight budget but if you can, get one of the more expensive versions because more is included. But I am very happy with my product and will continue to use it and train it for many years to come.