Mountain Lion Dictation versus Dragon Dictate. There are two powerful dictation solutions for OS X: The dictation tools built right into OS X Mountain Lion and Nuance’s Dragon Dictate. There’s a big difference between the two in price: Mountain Lion’s dictation feature is free with the OS, while Dragon Dictate will set you back $200. But that isn’t the only difference. Dragon Dictate, Medical for Mac sells for around $1000, expensive for software. Can it make life easier for the medical professional? In this review I will give you my personal opinion on this.
Dragon Dictate for Mac version 2.5.2
Company: Nuance
Price: $199.99 MSRP Boxed Set, $179.99 Electronic Download
Company: Nuance
Price: $199.99 MSRP Boxed Set, $179.99 Electronic Download
I learned how to type when I was a freshman in high school. Of course, that was on a manual typewriter. Now, decades later, I’m still typing and just as good and as fast as I did in high school. The only fly in the ointment is the fact that arthritis has raised its ugly head.
The way I’ve learned to deal with it is to take breaks and when I have to, I just stop typing for a while. However, there are other options. Amongst those options is Nuance’s Dragon Dictate for the Mac. Dragon Dictate allows the user to speak what he or she would normally type. This permits the user to continue to work without incurring any physical impact. Most Mac users who utilize an iPhone or iPad are more than likely familiar with the IOS versions of the application.
To use Dragon Dictate, you have to have an Intel based Mac, running OS 10.6 or better and a minimum of 2 GB of RAM. Now one does not just sit down and begin to dictate without first teaching Dragon Dictate to learn your individual voice. You do this by providing the software with a sample of your speech so that it learns what your voice sounds like and your way of pronouncing different words. To input your speech, you will need to utilize a USB microphone or by using an IOS device using the Dragon Remote Microphone app. For my tests, I utilized the USB microphone headset that came with the Dragon Dictate software.
Setting up Dragon Dictate was not hard, nor was it long and cumbersome. Once I plugged in the USB microphone and selected it, I just followed the directions to insert the Dragon Dictate DVD, installed the software on my Mac, registered the software as required and followed the instructions on using the microphone. I then began creating my voice profile. Since I am the primary user, my profile was all that I needed but if other members of my family wanted to utilize Dragon Dictate, they too would need to create a profile. I was also able as the only user to install Dragon Dictate on my Macbook and copy my initial voice profile over to the Macbook and begin to utilize the software while on the road.
The Voice Profile itself only took me several minutes to read through the paragraph as provided by the software, providing a sound level and voice training for the system to utilize. As you are reading and the system is learning, the words you have read will then turn green in the dialog box. If you follow the directions, read the paragraph to include punctuation, you should be up and running in short order.
The really amazing aspect of Dragon Dictate is the ability to verbalize the command to “open” an application. A very good example is the capability while using Dragon Dictate to speak “Open Mail” and Apple Mail application opens. You can then speak “New Message” and a new message opens, which you can then follow up by speaking your text and end by telling Dragon Dictate to Send Message. Please understand that you will still have to work with the system as Dragon Dictate does not understand a pause within a sentence so you would have to say “comma” or at the end of the sentence say “period.” There are still those times that you will still have to work with your hands to move a cursor to where you want it or to open an application, but overall the ability to utilize speech is an absolute pleasure. The ability to utilize both the application on the Mac and the IOS version, just in case an idea pops into your mind while on the road or not at your desk, makes working on a project or sending an email so much easier.
The more I used Dragon Dictate, the more I liked it. I was really amazed that there was very few items that caused me any issues other than the fact that while Dragon Dictate could handle just about any word I threw at it, there was only one word that Dragon Dictate had a problem with… my last name. It was basically a 50-50 chance that something else would appear on the screen rather than my name. If Dragon Dictate could properly spell “Soliloquy”, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “indomitable” I figured that my last name would not be a problem. Now I followed the guidance provided both in the manual and in an on-line tutorial but for some reason, Dragon Dictate still had issues with the name. However, having lived my life with everyone messing up my last name, it was a small item as far as I was concerned.
Is the program 100% accurate at all times? No, to be honest. There are items that Dragon Dictate does have issues with when you are speaking. I would say aren’t and got orange; I finally figured out I just needed to take my time. Yet I could say we’ve and it appeared as it should. It’s a learning process for both the user and for the program.
I will tell you that Nuance does provide a web page with information on Dragon Dictate for Mac, that includes a User Manual, a workbook and other information and links. If you have questions or need further information on how to use the application, take the time to check this out. I have had more fun learning what Dragon Dictate can do by using it and by reading through the User Manual, plus going to Ask The Dictator (http://www.nuance.com/dragon/ask-the-dictator/index.htmwhere) or on YouTube where video lessons are readily available.
My recommendation for those who may have issues with typing, be they medical or otherwise, or for someone who does do a lot of typing, is to consider the purchase of Dragon Dictate. The ability to sit at your computer and dictate a document, an email or whatever it is that you wish to do, is a tool really worth considering.
All in all, I give Dragon Dictate for Mac a My Mac rating of 8 out of a possible 10.
UPDATE 15/10/2016: I have now been using Dragon 6.0.1 for a couple of weeks, you can read my thoughts here.
UPDATE 28/9/2016: I received a personal phone call from Jeff Lieman, the manager of Engineering at Nuance, encouraging me to try out and review the new version, Dragon 6.01, which was released today. I will try it out over the next few weeks and give you an update.
I’m so disappointed with the latest version of Dragon for Mac 6 released yesterday that I’m not even going to write a review. I will make some comments though for those who might be thinking of upgrading.
Dragon for Mac 6 (renamed Dragon Professional Individual for Mac, v6) crashes every few minutes. It does crazy mistakes like “againn”, “consistsnt” and “won’tt”. There have been a couple of times it has taken complete control of my computer and spat out endless garbage like ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
I cannot even force quit it because it is an invisible application. I cannot go into activity monitor to quit because I have lost control of my keyboard. I’ve installed it on my Macbook Air but it’s too unstable to put on my main Mac.
Here are some comments from actual users:
“profound disappointment.”Kevin“this version of Dragon is so much garbage that I thought I might be able to warn others”Zach“Upgrading to dragon 6 is the worse decision I have made in a long time.”Max“shouldn’t Nuance be beta-testing new releases with users so these bugs get squashed before a general release?”Jon“I find it surprising that this version has been released when it clearly contains so many errors.”Peter“I am also frustrated with version 6, and like Zach, I’ve been a user since the MacSpeech iListen days.”Stephen“Now instead of just messing up and quitting, the 6.0 version just stops working and gives you a spinning beach ball.”Mary“getting a little tiresome”adsub“very disappointed that Nuance would put out such an unstable version.”Mark“it is not a positive experience.”David“Getting Dragon version 6 for the Macintosh to work for me was a huge pain.”Fletch“What good is improved UI when the guts don’t work.”Andrew“Big promises for Dragon 6, but a complete failure on delivery. Don’t buy it!”Tersh“It has crashed more than 10 times in 6 days in the course of doing very ordinary dictation tasks.”Steve“by far the worst release I’ve seen as far as bugs and erratic behavior in a program version that’s virtually useless”MarkNuance Dragon For Mac Reviews
“I feel like Charlie Brown, each time they come out with a new version I think that it will be different but then they pull the football away.”And my favourite:
“The only “Deep Learning” taking place here is that I must not allow myself to be ripped off yet again!”ArnoldWe know we are desperate if people are suggesting solutions like this:
“why don’t you try Dragon for Windows (using a Windows bootcamp partition or a virtual machine)?”MariusI am very disappointed because previously this was one of my favourite pieces of software.
You can read more on the Nuance customer forums here.
A final note, be wary of reviews like this one that are overly positive – they are selling the software!
Related posts:
Dragon Dictate Released!Macspeech dictate is renamed ‘Dragon Dictate’Dragon ExpressDragon Dictate version 4: ReviewDragon Dictate version 4, is it worth the upgrade?Waynesays:September 3, 2016 at 2:57 amhttp://nuance-community.custhelp.com/posts/040ada05f3?commentId=20754#20754
ReplyKevinsays:September 3, 2016 at 2:59 am Thanks for the heads up, though it is no less than I was expecting. At least you can get a 30-day refund if they do not manage to fix the problems.
As a side issue, I have been experimenting with open office, Neo office, and Libre office as alternatives to Word and Pages.
Personally, I had a pleasant surprise; Libre office is a delight to use, and while there ARE problems with Dragon, dictation does at least mean saving time again, instead of spending entire sessions problem-solving and cussing.
ReplyKevinsays:September 3, 2016 at 3:09 am As a side issue, I have been experimenting with open office, Neo office, and Libre office as alternatives to Word and Pages.
Personally, I had a pleasant surprise; Libre office is a delight to use, and while there ARE problems with Dragon, dictation does at least mean saving time again, instead of spending entire sessions problem-solving and cussing.
@ Wayne With you 100% on the upgrade/update issue. I bought 5 1 month ago and have been beset with problems. Now instead of receiving updates to fix the issues, I am receiving regular mailings asking for more money to upgrade my dodgy software for more dodgy software.
ReplyWaynesays:September 5, 2016 at 3:58 pm It seems to be worse in the applications that it claims to integrate with, e.g. Pages, Word. It kind of works okay if I am dictating into an application that it does not recognise, like Mail, or Safari, or text edit, so maybe that’s why Libre Office works.
ReplyKevinsays:September 5, 2016 at 5:16 pm I think that Nuance are having real problems and maybe are actually incapable of fixing this.
Mac eyeshadows blue eyes fair skin. In another post, I described how Dragon 5 crashes when I try to transfer text from the Dragon Pad, their own app!!
I reported the fault and requested assistance three days ago. So far no reply apart from the automated response (you know, the one that says I may be charged for assistance)
ReplyKevinsays:September 10, 2016 at 2:59 am I reported the fault and requested assistance three days ago. So far no reply apart from the automated response (you know, the one that says I may be charged for assistance)
OK, they replied after 5 days. First attempt was to delete the Dragon plist file, but it made no difference, crashes continued at a continuous pace.
Then they asked me to completely remove D5 and then reinstall.
They also provided a download link to version 5.02
Reinstalling may be an issue if you did not purchase the digital download service, though you can still buy it for about 7 dollars (I am in Thailand, so am a little hazy on US currency.)
The complete removal instructions are:
Then they asked me to completely remove D5 and then reinstall.
They also provided a download link to version 5.02
Reinstalling may be an issue if you did not purchase the digital download service, though you can still buy it for about 7 dollars (I am in Thailand, so am a little hazy on US currency.)
The complete removal instructions are:
A. Completely removing the installation files of the software.
1. Click Finder.
2. Click Go from the menu bar at the top of the computer screen.
3. Press and hold the “Option” key of the keyboard.
4. Select Library and release the “Option” key.
2. Click Go from the menu bar at the top of the computer screen.
3. Press and hold the “Option” key of the keyboard.
4. Select Library and release the “Option” key.
Go the exact locations below and delete the file or move it to the trash.
a. /Library/Application Support/Dragon folder
b. /Library/Preferences/com.dragon.dictate.plist
c. /Library/Preferences/com.dragon.dictate.plist.lockfile
d. /Library/Caches/com.dragon.dictate folder or Dragon folder
e. /Library/Save Application State/com.dragon.dictate or Dragon folder
b. /Library/Preferences/com.dragon.dictate.plist
c. /Library/Preferences/com.dragon.dictate.plist.lockfile
d. /Library/Caches/com.dragon.dictate folder or Dragon folder
e. /Library/Save Application State/com.dragon.dictate or Dragon folder
5. On the left side of the window, select Applications and delete the Dragon Dictate.app
B. Running a Repair Disk Permission.
1. Click the magnifying glass icon on the upper right of your screen
2. Search for “Disk utility” without the quotations.
3. On a new window that will show up, you will see the available HD of the computer. Highlight the one with the name “Macintosh HD”
4. After highlighting it, at the top of it click the icon that says “First Aid” > Select Run and follow all onscreen prompts.
5. Empty the trash
6. Reboot your computer
7. Reinstall Dragon Dictate 5
Mike Zlotnik2. Search for “Disk utility” without the quotations.
3. On a new window that will show up, you will see the available HD of the computer. Highlight the one with the name “Macintosh HD”
4. After highlighting it, at the top of it click the icon that says “First Aid” > Select Run and follow all onscreen prompts.
5. Empty the trash
6. Reboot your computer
7. Reinstall Dragon Dictate 5
Dragon Naturally Speaking For Mac Reviews
says:September 30, 2016 at 1:23 pmI wish I had read this before I bought it. I had veresion 5 which version 6 ate. It is great for a minute or so and then it crashes or types garbage. Vocabulary editor does not work! Terrible stuff produced by incompetent fraudsters.
ReplyJohn S. Birchsays:October 20, 2016 at 9:50 am I’ve been a Nuance user for years, way back to version 2 or 3 of Dragon Naturally Speaking, and can’t begin to tell you what a bitter disappointment I’ve found Dragon-for-Mac v6.
I’m 85 and have Alzheimer’s disease, and had high hopes that this product would make my life as a writer easier when I first saw your promotional material.
This application crashes constantly and you’ve clearly released it long before it was ready. I feel utterly cheated, and swindled out of the 100-odd $$$s “special offer” that I could ill afford.
Sincerely,
John s. Birch, New York City.
ReplyMarksays:October 21, 2016 at 2:34 pm I’m disappointed in Dragon 6, it’s not much better than 5 on the Mac. Not only is it expensive, but you can’t use it at all without doing the training. I purchased a specific headphone to use with Dragon and it’s no better than the built-in microphone for recognition. To add insult to injury, my company updated my laptop, and now Nuance wants me to either buy it all over again (no!) or pay them an extra premium (no!). I’ve made digital purchases on the internet for years and I’ve never been treated like this.
ReplyNancysays:November 25, 2016 at 7:19 am I upgraded Dragon for Mac and I cannot believe how buggy it is! It’s amazing that anyone would try to sell such a problematic product. One reviewer said it is so buggy it should come with it’s own exterminator. The cursor jumps to random paragraphs and erases word, sentences, paragraphs. It puts random letters throughout my document. The spelling is atrocious. I spend so much time editing for these crazy problems, Dragon is no longer the useful tool it once was.
ReplyAndrewsays:February 6, 2017 at 8:27 pm I have been persisting with Dragon 6 for Mac for the last 4 months, hoping an update would fix most of the terrible issues described above. My experience to date is that Dragon 6 is by far the worst version ever. My latest version was 6.0.5. I tried downgrading to Word 2011, thinking Word 2016 (Office 365) could be the problem. It wasn’t! I finally pulled the plug and requested a refund. I am now back to using Dragon 5.0 Mac with Word 2011 and my productivity is reasonable again. I won’t be in such a hurry to upgrade in the future! There is no point in adding new sales features, when basic functionality gets lost in the process.
ReplyGlen Fishersays:April 25, 2017 at 3:44 am Dragon 6 worked fine with Word on my Mac – up until now. Now I get garbage everywhere – split words, the cursor popping up in strange places, garbled sentences. Have tried closing and reloading Dragon, closing and reloading Word, rebooting my computer – nothing works. Might as well throw the programme in the garbage, like the garbage it is generating.
Oh, and this is a bloody expensive programme! especially when it doesn’t work reliably.
ReplyDon Johnsonsays:January 2, 2018 at 9:01 pm I decided to try Dragon v6 (6.0.8) because I wanted to upgrade to OS X 10.11.6 Reading the mixed reviews I read a well written one on Amazon that helped me make the jump – So glad I did. The training period is much shorter than my version 4. It is accurate, faster and the cursor does not jump around as in prior versions. After 2 weeks the program is stable (no crashes) and a pleasure to use. I use an old Nuance USB headset with a 2014 Macbook Pro 2.8Ghz. i7 The program works really well with Scrivener, Word for Mac 2011 and of course TextEdit. I am a librarian and have put it though the paces dictating difficult text and it is so close to 100% accuracy.
Big Kudos to Nuance for finally getting it right.
ReplyMariasays:October 23, 2018 at 11:13 pm Big Kudos to Nuance for finally getting it right.
I bought this product back in April and it has never worked properly and over the last two months it has been impossible to use. It now crashes every time I say “wake up”. I cannot even get started. I have had some technical support from a company call Hands Free Computing. They have been trying hard to help, but it is a faulty product. The most outrageous thing is that Nuance doesn’t solve the problem and apparently there is no way I can get a refund. They are completely unnaccountable. This is a extraordinary that they get away with it. I wasted my money and now they have announced that they are discontinuing Dragon for Mac leaving everyone in the lurch. They say they will give 3 months technical support but the product has not worked and it is not likely to work.
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