I have Dragon, and also a couple additional voice recog. programs.

If the laptop has Vista platform, it will likely be bundled or packaged with voice / speech recognition installed. (Mine did, and it may be a staple or ... I dunno if it cost x-tra. My computer was gift, and a so-called "special edition" HP, so I don't know if voice is usually factory installed.)


Any voice recog. is generally as good or as responsive as the "training" it receives. By that I mean, the more time someone puts into "training" the program to understand one's personal pronunciations and enunciation, the more accurate and responsive the effect and results when the program is in-use.



I'd read the materials that accompany the program and follow the suggestions for use, including the tips on "training" (the program to recognize one's voice). I'm not suggesting that you wouldn't anyway but mentioning it since it's on my mind and related to my amazement at how many friends I have who constantly ask for help with something and, yet, didn't first read the manual, help files, etc.

Be sure to have a decent microphone.

The sound card in the computer can make a difference also- I had 2 that did not pick up any mic sounds very well at all.

If buying a new computer - ask if the sound card, or on board sound is high quality - because you will need to use voice recognition at times.
It wouldn't hurt to ask about testing it at the store to see if it seems to fit your needs.

I was looking for more info and did see that Vista does have a voice recognition built in or added on to it - so you might ask for a demo of it at the store too.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/prod...ta/speech.aspx

I used this one yrs ago and it worked fine -
http://ivos.comunx.com/

Dear Monique, Bobbi and Jo,

Thanks so much for your input! You each have raised important points/considerations!

Monique, you have made a great point about accents!
This is something people probably rarely think of until after they have a problem? By the way, I had spent a good 15 years in the Greater Boston area and love the heavy Boston accent!

Bobbi, great info! One can never stress simply reading the directions enough! I recall teachers always stressing the importance of being able (and willing) to follow directions in my elementary school! I was lucky I'd had teachers stressing this point so very much in my school system! This had made a huge impression upon me! Thanks, too, for reiterating the important point of spending time with "training" the program! I need to plan on that!

Jo, I am grateful for your important points, as well! I did thinnk about a mic, at one point, but then had forgotten about it. I did not think about the sound card... at all! So glad you have pointed these things out!

I continue deeply appreciative of all of the assistance with this topic!

Many blessings!

If I may, and I hope you don't mind DejaVu, I'd like to share some additional info. respective of some posts I'm reading in the thread .


Thursday, Windows does have VR installed - if, for instance, a computer's XP platform is Pro, not Home Edition.

Speech/Voice Recognition can be found in the computer's Control Panel (CP).

Go to the Start menu; it's where the Windows icon appears. Left click, and you should see the Control Panel option. Again, left click. Look in the CP for the application.


Monique, you may have already discovered this, so just ignore what I'm about to relay if that's the case.

Each Voice Recog. program I've used, there is also the option to tweak word pronunciations. For example, words that just aren't coming across correctly (say, speech-to-text) can be adjusted phonetically, so that the intended word is saved in the programs database for future use. It's a great tool for people with heavy accents or dialects - and possibly less frustrating.

With one of my programs, I wanted it to have a Southern drawl, and I named the program Kermit. I wanted it to say Key-air-mitt in the "Welcome" message when the app. was booted, so I tweaked the pronounciation. Worked like a charm.


DejaVu, what I did was read a ton of customer reviews and did a comparison, too, respective of features being offered: text, surfing, E-mail, etc., had to be included for me.

Another nice thing I just discovered - for computers/users - that do have Voice Recog. already installed: No training is need if "Read" is a desired function while working in certain applications, such as Adobe PDF. I gave it a test-run on my 'puter. And, it worked beautifully.

I have Vista on my laptop and use what they call speech recognition which is built in.

You just need a good headset and search from the start button for speech recognitiion. It will ask you to read a few sentences to get used to your voice. It helps when I type a lot.

Hi Bobi and Ivy2!

Thanks again to each of you for your input! I deeply appreciate it, as I do not know of many using these programs.

Everyone here has been so incredibly helpful!

I hope to be purchasing the (new) computer and deciding on the voice program asap, as I now have my arm/hand surgery scheduled to be done in about 3 weeks. I'd like to have this all set to go by then!

Again, heartfelt thanks!!!!

I hope I can return the favor to each of you sometime!

were very helpful, Thursday! Good stuff!

I hope others get a chance to visit your blog, as well!

Good luck to you!