Voice recognition

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Virginia Routh

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Feb 1, 2020, 5:21:40 PM2/1/20
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Hi Smuggers. Has anybody experience of voice recognition software? My brother says Dragon is the best but as he uses a PC I thought I should first check with Mac users that Dragon is the best for my MacBookPro. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Virginia

Stephen Watson

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Feb 2, 2020, 5:51:00 AM2/2/20
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Hi Virginia,

It depends how fussy you want to be but I used to use the Mac’s built-in dictation which worked very well for me. Dragon has a good reputation so it’s probably better and may offer other features.

I’d certainly try the Mac’s own first as it’s there and free so you can be sure it isn’t enough before you spend your money.

Regards,

Stephen

You meet your destiny on the road you take to avoid it. ~ Carl Jung

> On 1 Feb 2020, at 22:21, Virginia Routh <virgini...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Smuggers. Has anybody experience of voice recognition software? My brother says Dragon is the best but as he uses a PC I thought I should first check with Mac users that Dragon is the best for my MacBookPro. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Virginia
>
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A C Crooks

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Feb 2, 2020, 5:58:30 AM2/2/20
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Hi, Virginia,

I’d also give the built-in dictation a go. Go to System Preferences and the Keyboard preferences to install the dictation software if not already installed. The benefit of installing the software is that you do not need internet access to translate speech to text.

On the occasions I’ve used it the success of translation was very good - above 98% when I checked the number of words dictated against my manual record of corrections I needed to make. I think Apple claims that the success rate improves with use.

Regards,

Tony
Sent from my iPad

Jason Davies

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Feb 2, 2020, 8:20:16 AM2/2/20
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On 1 Feb 2020, at 22:21, Virginia Routh wrote:

I'm afraid Dragon has been discontinued for the Mac. I don't know of any
replacement. Every serious VR user I've known has ended up running
Windows as Dragon was always vastly superior.

<https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/24/nuance-discontinues-dragon-mac/>

Cheers,

Jason

Catherine Hunt

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Feb 2, 2020, 8:20:59 AM2/2/20
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Hi Virginia -

Extensive experience of voice recognition, because of the RSI in my hands. 

I used to use Dragon on my Mac. It was, indeed brilliant, but they stopped updating it for the Mac. 

I now use the built in software on the Mac, which works extremely well. Just as good as Dragon, and much cheaper. 

The main difference is not being able easily to use voice control to operate the computer. I used to be able to do things like switch between apps using my voice, and that doesn’t seem to be possible now. 

There is a Dragon App for iPhone. I used it for many years, and it was brilliant. They started charging for it, so no longer use it. (And voice recognition on the iPhone is really good, anyway). 


Best wishes, 
Catherine 


Sent from my iPhone

On 1 Feb 2020, at 22:21, Virginia Routh <virgini...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Smuggers.  Has anybody experience of voice recognition software?  My brother says Dragon is the best but as he uses a PC I thought I should first check with Mac users that Dragon is the best for my MacBookPro.   Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  Virginia

Virginia Routh

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Feb 2, 2020, 9:19:06 AM2/2/20
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Thank you for these very helpful answers.  I had no idea that there was in-built voice recognition on Macs.  I shall now explore it.  

On 2 Feb 2020, at 13:21, Catherine Hunt <cahu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Virginia -

Catherine Hunt

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Feb 2, 2020, 1:15:32 PM2/2/20
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Catherine 

Sent from my iPhone

On 2 Feb 2020, at 14:19, Virginia Routh <virgini...@gmail.com> wrote:



Virginia Routh

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Feb 2, 2020, 1:59:48 PM2/2/20
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So helpful, Catherine.  Thank you.  Sorting it out will be my job for tomorrow.  Virginia

On 2 Feb 2020, at 18:15, Catherine Hunt <cahu...@gmail.com> wrote:

For info - 

Paul R Owen

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Feb 3, 2020, 5:40:39 AM2/3/20
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Virginia,

Here’s one person's experience, which may assist.

Paul Owen

Virginia Routh

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Feb 3, 2020, 7:19:12 AM2/3/20
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Thanks, Paul.  Very helpful.  It seems that enhanced dictation is no longer available on MacBooks.  Dictation sort of works on my MBP,  ‘sort of’  relates probably to my ineptitude. From this article it seems as if iphone achieves better dictation than MacBooks.  I’m persevering.    

On 3 Feb 2020, at 10:40, 'Paul R Owen' via Sussex Mac User Group <sm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Virginia,

mac98aop

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Feb 5, 2020, 9:48:20 AM2/5/20
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Another +1 for the built in. I do a lot of writing each week on my Mac, and once you get used to it, it's so so very helpful.

Worth having a go!


On Monday, February 3, 2020 at 12:19:12 PM UTC, virginia wrote:
Thanks, Paul.  Very helpful.  It seems that enhanced dictation is no longer available on MacBooks.  Dictation sort of works on my MBP,  ‘sort of’  relates probably to my ineptitude. From this article it seems as if iphone achieves better dictation than MacBooks.  I’m persevering.    

On 3 Feb 2020, at 10:40, 'Paul R Owen' via Sussex Mac User Group <sm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Virginia,

Here’s one person's experience, which may assist.

Paul Owen

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Jason P. Davies

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Feb 5, 2020, 11:24:55 AM2/5/20
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The mic will definitely be a factor. Years of using Dragin taught me that even subtle things are a huge factor. I imagine iPhone mics are better than most but getting a proper headset may help on a Mac. 

Thanks,

    -Jason

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