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MacSpeech Dictate

Newbie to the dictation art

Written by RM from Cambridge

Oct 24, 2009

I bought the product at the Apple store and had to make sure that I was buying the 1.5 release - that's the one that runs with Snow Leopard. It was not clear on the box, so we had to call the company.

The product installed quickly, asked to install the latest update, and trained within five minutes. It came with a one-ear piece Plantronics microphone. I have used the product with two other less expensive earphone-mic's.

In general, it captures speech very well. Editing seems to be more of a problem - there are a large number of rather complex editing commands to be mastered.

I bought this product to write student evaluations and will be using it heavily in the next few weeks. I feel the product is appropriate, though not as flexible as I would like or as easy to use.

I'm writing this with MacSpeech Dictate. It made a few errors in discriminating between words such as, "year" and "ear", it did capitalize Plantronics, but not Snow Leopard.

29 of 29 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

This app is amazing right out of the box

Written by EB from edison

Sep 23, 2009

I cannot explain this any other way is just amazing it just works I'm running snow leopard and is running great I'm actually doing this review with it I've tried others this is the best

34 of 48 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Completely worthless if you use snow leopard

Written by KB from Newfield

Sep 18, 2009

This was a reasonable program on earlier Mac operating systems. Now that I've upgraded to Snow Leopard it does not work. Macspeech appears not to be in any hurry to upgrade the program for compatibility. Not a cheap program, so now I wish I didn't waste my money.

55 of 59 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

DOES NOT WORK WITH SNOW LEOPARD!!

Written by CF from Allentown

Sep 6, 2009

It was a so so program that I paid a bunch of money for. But I ended up saying "scratch that" so much it was annoying. And now it doesn't work with snow leopard. FML

70 of 81 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

amazing

Written by SM from mumbai

Sep 4, 2009

picks up every word i say

13 of 20 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

HAS A LONG WAY TO GO! 6 REASONS WHY...

Written by JS

Jul 5, 2009

HAS A LONG WAY TO GO! 6 REASONS WHY...

I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking since version 3, and bought a Mac and began to use the latest version of MacSpeech. (I use a VXI Talk Pro microphone and repeatedly train my voice) Here's my analysis:

1.WHEN DICTATING CONTINUOUSLY: it is good, but still not up to the level of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. (However, when first starting to dictate, it usually takes 3-5 verbal entries for MacSpeech to start up.)

2.WHEN CORRECTING WORDS: MacSpeech corrections system is in the dark ages. Absolutely terrible! MacSpeech also makes a lot of capitalization errors (when I had a word in the middle of a sentence, it is capitalized, or beginning a sentence that is not capitalized, something that Dragon NaturallySpeaking does not do).

3.WHEN ADDING ONE'S OWN VOCABULARY: another terrible rating! This function is so easy to use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

4.WHEN ADDING PERSONAL GLOBAL COMMANDS: for example, training "my address" and the computer prints my entire name and address... another terrible rating.

5: OVERALL EASE-OF-USE: A TERRIBLE TERRIBLE RATING! I have two computers: one with MacSpeech, and another with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. There is an unbelievable difference in my comfort level when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking compared to MacSpeech. With MacSpeech I am always making corrections, or adjusting to its inability to "flow smoothly" as I dictate.

6: MACSPEECH COMPANY PUBLIC RELATIONS: given the needed problems and upgrades necessary to make this dictation software work correctly, MacSpeech folks created a lot of bad press when they charged $55 for an upgrade that is ATTEMPTING to correct needed problems. This is an indication of their closemindedness regarding their commitment to improve an inferior product. With all of the problems they need to correct, they are now launching a legal and a medical version. It appears this company is out to make money rather than develop a superior product.

OVERALL ADVICE: keep the pressure on this company to improve their product, or get out of to business of voice dictation. And don't believe the positive "professional ratings" that you'll read regarding this product! It is the ratings of end users that have used both Dragon NaturallySpeaking and MacSpeech that really count. If you have a choice, use Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

197 of 217 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

The jury is still out. Stay tuned.

Written by MB from CALDWELL

Jul 3, 2009

Well, I have been playing with the MacSpeech for about an hour now. Over the next few weeks, my work will require me to produce about a 300 page document. I have been asked to put down on paper numerous sales presentations that up until now have only been in my head. The problem with typing out all of those presentations, is that as you type something you're used to saying so extemporaneously, there's a good chance you'll end up changing the presentation itself. In an effort to try to have all of my presentation's be recorded as accurately as possible I thought I would try this program. My sister is a court reporter. Originally what I thought was I could have her translate some audio tapes of me giving these presentations. But, she's too expensive, and wasn't going to give me a break.

Well, I just got through saying all this into the computer without looking at the screen, and from what I could see it appears it has worked out okay. Years ago I tried IBM's ViaVoice. I didn't like it. It sure didn't work like this. I think this is going to be just fine. I give it 4.2 stars.

P. S. This thing spells better than I do.

62 of 69 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Getting better but not there yet and now has a worrisome security issue

Written by SC from Shreveport

Jun 23, 2009

MacSpeech Dictate is certainly significantly better than its predecessor iListen but not equal to the Nuance NaturallySpeaking for Windows. I am now dictating this comment using version 1.3 and the accuracy is close to that I get when using Vista Speech Recognition software on my PC computer.

I believe if potential customers peruse reviews and forums including they MacSpeech forums you will see a great deal of frustration with with MacSpeech customer support and more recently their insistence that those of us who purchased MacSpeech Dictate shell out $60 plus shipping to upgrade to the latest version 1.5. MacSpeech ended up closing comments on the upgrade approximately 2 weeks into the overwhelming negative responses posted on their forum.

MacSpeech Dictate continues to have issues with mixed keyboard and voice editing. It is extremely disturbing to see your text scrambled or simply disappear after a few simple keyboard edits have been made. Additionally, I have experienced more crashes using Dictate and any other software for my Mac. One very unsettling observation has been that when MacSpeech dictate 1.3 crashes it launches my e-mail client and attempts to send detailed information detailing all that I have been doing prior to the crash including the document I am working on.

The first time this happened, I instinctively hit the send button forwarding this data to MacSpeech. Fortunately, I was not working on a sensitive document for my accountant, attorney or client. This option could prove devastating to professionals such as physicians and needs to be eliminated particularly given that MacSpeech is now making a version specifically for medical professionals.

95 of 96 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

I bought it and you should too!

Written by DR from Honolulu

May 25, 2009

This is not perfect software, but it is easy to use and great for writing papers with. My wife and I are both full time workers and full time grad school students along with being parents and active socially. Dictate enables us to "write" our papers much better, quicker and longer.
It look a short time to set up and was easy to set up. You have to pace your dictation and annunciate, but its pretty darn good. Unless you hire someone to take dictation for you, life can't get easier. If you want perfection, then this isn't for you. But if 98% (IMO) is good enough, go get this.

53 of 56 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Awful software

Written by JG from Philadelphia

May 25, 2009

If you are looking to quickly dictate your computer long documents and letters just in a few minutes, this is not it, dont buy this piece of software. It is horrible!!!!! It will take you hours to clean up the "dictation" mess up. That is only if you dont have any trouble installing the USB microphone that comes with the software. I will rather keep typing until my hands bleed. Good luck and please let me know if you find something good in terms of mac speech recognition.

47 of 73 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

MacSpeech Dictate IS AWESOME/ INNOVATIVE/ GREAT!!!

Written by MS from Naples

May 21, 2009

I really underestimated the software, but here I am right now speaking into a microphone while it types the words for me. I am using version 1.3 and after training the software almost every single word that I say, as long as I am in a quiet environment, is typed out on whatever application I have open. The engineers who developed and designed the software are very innovative as well as phenomenal programmers. I would highly recommend purchasing the software if your hands become very sore after typing for a while. MacSpeech will become very useful when I start my classes next fall because college consists of writing many papers, which typing takes up most of the time. Rather than typing, I can utilize MacSpeech to type for me while I concentrate more on the information that I am researching. MacSpeech will give me more time to research a topic and to get a great understanding of the information, rather than focusing all of my time on typing. If you have not purchased MacSpeech I would highly recommend it, not only because of its capabilities, but because there is so much that it has to offer for whatever occasion that you may use it for. So, on a final note, this whole entire review was typed by MacSpeech and verbally spoken to by me. I rate this software five stars, but would rate it 10 stars if I could. I am operating OS X 10.5 .7 with 4 GB of RAM, 250 GB of hard drive space, 2.4 GHz of Intel Core 2 Duo processing speed, on a Mac book Pro. Most people who rate this software bad probably have older computers or do not have enough RAM or processing speed to handle the software. Also, the people who write the software bad probably do not have a good microphone to speak into or did not train the software properly because the software has to be training in a quiet environment and also must be spoken to in a semi-quiet environment after it has been trained. I would recommend buying the software over any other software and it is now my favorite application for the Mac. I will assure you 100% that you will enjoy this software very much. I am a computer engineer with a bachelors of science in computer science and am very picky with software, but this software is now my favorite. Give it a try because I know you will like it a lot. Cheers!

53 of 61 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

It has potential but......

Written by BG from SWINDON

May 15, 2009

Wish I didn't have to say this, but, here goes, 'the windows version is better'!!!!! I purchased both MacSpeech Dictate (for the MAC) for me and Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 (for Windows) for the good lady. I firstly installed Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and was simply blown away by what it can do, especially with the controlling of the programs. When testing it in Word (windows), I was able to use my voice to type things and then edit the document seamlessly e.g. if I made an error and said 'undo' the undo command will work, I could make specific words bold, in italics and even underline them using my voice, then when I'm ready I say 'close' and the dialog box will pop up and ask me whether I'd like to save it or not, I simply said 'save' and it will save it for me in the name I say and in the location I specify, with no problems at all, USING MY VOICE ONLY!!!!

When I installed MacSpeech Dictate and tested it on Microsoft Word for MAC, the results where disappointingly different. Having the program type what I say is fine but when it comes to controlling the program it just doesn't do the trick. If I say 'undo' it will type undo rather that use the undo command to correct any errors and for closing the program well,that was just problems, I said 'close','Quit', 'close window', 'Quit Microsoft Word' and the list goes on, and guess what the program is still open. It does Open the programs fine but for controlling and closing them, it needs alot of help!!!

Or mybe I do.

37 of 38 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Thumbs Up - easy to install and use

Written by JG from Montreal

May 3, 2009

This is the first time I am using this type of program and I have only been using it for a couple of weeks but I like it. I am an instructor and correct a lot of papers and since students are now e-mailing papers I can sit back and dictate my feedback. The software was easy to install, so far it works great and I am having a lot of fun with it. It fast, picks up the basic words and learns as you go along. I would highly recommend it. I give it a thumbs up.

25 of 30 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

An excellent product

Written by HP from Dowagiac

Apr 19, 2009

The product is excellent. When I goof, it goofs. If I speak carefully and distinctly, it responds accordingly. I have one problem. I am hard of hearing. I wish there was a better earphone and microphone product which would return a louder signal. That would be a great help.

23 of 28 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Big disappointment . . .

Written by JH

Apr 18, 2009

First, forget all the 5 star reviews. Obviously written by insiders, or I don't know who.

I've used DNS on a PC for years. LOVED IT. For my Mac I had to buy Mac Speech, v1.3. VERY disappointing . . . UNLESS you are a "simple" dictator, that is no unusual words, or capitalization, etc. This is where the program fails. If you make a mistake training an incorrect word, FORGET IT. The incorrect trained word can not be corrected . . . Hello? All you can do is delete your profile, set up a new one, train again . . . how poor. In DNS, you could go into the vocabulary files and retrain, or delete trained words.

Guys, this is 2009 . . . poor design. And don't get me started about NotePad. Try to enter some text or correct using the keyboard. IT TYPES THE TEXT IN BACKWARDS . . .

You may not think these are big issues . . . try dictating anything other than a simple letter . .
I'm sending it back for a refund.

56 of 68 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Not for the lazy

Written by TM from Victoria

Feb 22, 2009

Great product if you take the time to talk slowly and prounicate words clearly. If you tend to mumble or talk fast in every day conversation, this product is for you, but you need to make some slight adjustments in how you talk. The important thing is to not get frustrated in the beginning. I found that the program was making many mistakes in the beginning, but when I recorded my voice and listened to it, I realized that I made the above mistakes. ie fast talking and mumbling. Since then I have made the appropriate adjustments and the program works like a gem.

80 of 86 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

See for yourself.....

Written by RR

Feb 10, 2009

Note: this was written with MacSpeech Dictate. I have done a considerable amount of voice training and I do not stutter, have an accent or lisp. Read for your self before you make the purchase..... Eter reading the reviews, I had to stop to see about my owner you. When I decided to do here, insert after point is to prove a point. if what I'm about to write is fully legible or lease clause then I will leave it up to you to decide whether or not this is an accurate program. When I first bought the program it seemed that everything worked perfectly. After using it for a little while I noticed that things started to do for. Anytime a win to write an e-mail, for whatever reason, it was impossible to get anything right. What I'm doing here is wearing out my 300 words or allotted for this review. To be completely honest with you, I am having a hard time with it right now. You links to help you-I said things- to help you like the recognition window and the available commands window. You will use them a lot. The available commands window is more effort than one it is worth concert after after. Insert after. When it comes to inserting after a word. It's easier to just do it manually. Ortiz the option, move backward/forward one -- 99 words. But you have to count the words. So it's best just to manually move your cursor. okay I had just hold it to insert after and he just went back and deleted half of what I had written. Of course I hit undo. Now for whatever reason, the latter he is constantly after my cursor. I'm going to try setting out again, I'm going to try to say that again. For whatever reason, the electorate he..... (I am typing this part manually. The letter E is constantly set after my cursor. When this happens, sometimes it's a C, then it really starts to type crazy things.) e now I just placed my cursor after the EE and we'll see what happens. No fee is back, he, E is back. I'm not sure if I have done my 300 words yet or not but this is pretty much a good example of the accuracy of this program. E. I would say I have a very good vocabulary. No list node list... nevermind. E Anyways makeup your own mind. I'm tired of hailing everybody talk about how great his program is es. I agree that's just people from the company putting in the reviews. I wish I never bought this time, thing. Now I have two ease. EE Oh and before I forget I have to point out the fact that tech support is Just ewful. E let me rephrase that. Tech support is just awful. You will wait and then get somebody soul and rude. But the moment cells is really... I give. E

138 of 183 people found this useful

MacSpeech Dictate

Excellent Product

Written by SB from Tigard

Feb 9, 2009

I have used speech recognition software before, and knew of its limitations. After having purchased MacSpeech Dictate I was pleasantly surprised with how well that it worked. In fact this review, was dictated entirely using the software. I found it extraordinarily accurate, and easy to use. In fact, it blew away my prior experience using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I was concerned at first because of some of the negative reviews on this website, but I believe now after using it, those particular users must have had problems with the software unique to their circumstances, most notably trying to use speech recognition software in a noisy workspace or with a person who has a more distinct voice or dialect. The software was awesome. I bought it because I had surgery and could not type for several weeks at my office, and as a practicing attorney, that is a problem. Nothing is perfect, but this came as close as I could ever expect in software. I used it with a Mac book Pro.

75 of 85 people found this useful