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MacSpeech Dictate |  | From: Nuance Communications, Inc.
Category: Software
List Price: $199.00
Buy New: $160.85
as of 9/8/2010 21:04 CDT details
You Save: $38.15 (19%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  176 reviews
Format: CD-ROM
Platform: Mac OS X Intel
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Operating System: Mac OS X
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.8 x 2.6
MPN: MSDICTATE
Model: MACSPEECH DICTATE
UPC: 806709380876
EAN: 0780420121577
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Speech-recognition software built exclusively for Mac OS X | | • | Input text and execute commands--hands free (no keyboard or mouse required) | | • | Works with Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Apple applications such as iChat, Mail, etc. | | • | Almost-perfect accuracy rate of up to 99 percent; never misspells a word | | • | Understands 13 distinct English dialect variations; headset microphone included |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
MacSpeech Dictate Welcome to the brand new MacSpeech Dictate the premier speech recognition solution for the Macintosh. Written from the ground up for the Mac MacSpeech Dictate s features accuracy and capabilities make it as fun productive and intuitive to use as the Mac itself. The all-new MacSpeech Dictate provides: Amazing Accuracy MacSpeech Dictate will astonish you with its accuracy. You simply talk and leave the recognition to MacSpeech Dictate. Essential Command Capabilities Instead of using your mouse to select menu commands or your keyboard to type shortcuts just speak a command. MacSpeech Dictate executes it for you. What could be easier? Works With The Apps You Already Have Microsoft Word Adobe Photoshop QuarkXPress and on and on MacSpeech Dictate works perfectly with them all. And MacSpeech Dictate works great with Apple s applications as well including iChat Mail iPhoto Keynote and more. Built Especially For The Mac Mac users expect only the best from the applications they use on their Macs. MacSpeech Dictate was built from the ground up to ensure the ultimate experience for Mac users. No Training Required MacSpeech Dictate provides astounding productivity straight out of the box. You don t need to invest a single second of time training MacSpeech Dictate. Uses The Legendary Dragon NaturallySpeaking Speech Recognition Engine At the core of MacSpeech Dictate is the world-renowned speech recognition engine Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It s the brains and brawn behind MacSpeech Dictate s phenomenal accuracy capabilities. Comes With Everything You Need Including Headphones There are no hidden costs. MacSpeech Dictate includes everything you need to be instantly productive as soon as start using it including a high quality headphone/microphone unit.Format: ACCESSORY Genre: ACCESSORIES/COMPUTER UPC: 806709380876 Manufacturer No: MSDICTATE
Amazon.com Product Description
Welcome to MacSpeech Dictate, the premier speech-recognition software for the Macintosh. With MacSpeech Dictate, you're free to focus on what you have to say--just think it, speak it, and create it. Instead of typing, use your voice to input text; rather than clicking your mouse, just speak commands. MacSpeech Dictate executes it for you. What could be easier? Written from the ground up for the Mac, MacSpeech Dictate's accuracy and capabilities make it as fun, productive, and intuitive to use as the Mac itself.  Premier speech-recognition software for the Macintosh. | Accurate Amazing Accuracy
MacSpeech Dictate will astound you with its accuracy rate--near perfection with up to 99% accuracy. You simply talk and leave the recognition to MacSpeech Dictate. MacSpeech Dictate never misspells a word--typos are a thing of the past. Even Greater Recognition
MacSpeech Dictate boasts robust Phrase Training capabilities, allowing it to learn as it goes based on your voice input. Even more, MacSpeech Dictate recognizes and understands 13 distinct English dialect variations, nine with U.S. spelling and four with U.K. spelling. Minimal Training Required
MacSpeech Dictate provides astounding accuracy and productivity. With just minutes of training, you'll be using MacSpeech Dictate's superior capabilities.  Recognizes 13 distinct English dialect variations such as American, British, Australian, and more. | Powerful Essential Command Capabilities
Instead of using your mouse to select menu commands or your keyboard to type shortcuts, just speak a command. MacSpeech Dictate executes it for you. What's more, MacSpeech Dictate understands key commands. With the 'Press The Key' and 'Press The Key Combo' commands, you can enter specific keys and even keyboard modifiers like Command, Option, Shift, and Control. That makes you more productive and MacSpeech Dictate more intuitive. What could be better? Document Freedom
MacSpeech Dictate works great with most text documents, even those it didn't create. MacSpeech Dictate can read a document's contents, or a portion of it, that you can then navigate and edit. Compatible Works with the Apps You Already Have
Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and more. And MacSpeech Dictate works great with Apple's applications as well, including iChat, Mail, iPhoto, and Keynote, among others.  MacSpeech-certified, noise-cancelling microphone headset included. | Make Your Move
You don't need a keyboard or mouse to move around in your documents. MacSpeech Dictate lets you move your cursor forwards, backwards, and much more with just your voice. It helps make editing your documents a breeze. Spelling a World of Words
MacSpeech Dictate's spelling mode lets you easily spell words, names, and acronyms with either natural language or the International Radio Alphabet. You have complete control over every aspect of your speech recognition input. No Hidden Costs
MacSpeech Dictate includes everything you need to be instantly productive as soon as you start using it, including a high-quality headset microphone.  Equipped with the world-renowned Dragon speech-recognition engine by Nuance. | Built for Mac Built Especially for the Mac
Mac users expect only the best from the applications they use on their Macs. MacSpeech Dictate was built from the ground up to ensure the ultimate experience on Mac OS X. Exceptional Online Help
For those times when you need a little assistance, MacSpeech Dictate boasts a complete online, searchable help book. It's convenient to use, easy to understand, and all just a mouse click away.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 176
 The Best Speech Recognition Software I Have Ever Used April 14, 2008
R. Hudson Peralta (Detroit, MI)
260 out of 264 found this review helpful
I am a disabled web developer. I was born without hands, and my arms are about 8 inches long. I have tried many different speech recognition programs over the past 15 years. In fact I was one of the first students in Michigan to have a wheelchair mounted voice-recognition laptop. It was horrible and recognize nothing. Then a few years later I tried a few other pieces of speech recognition software, nothing was very good at all. I kind of gave up on speech recognition until last year I tried a program called iListen even that wasn't really up to par, but a month ago I received MacSpeech Dictate as a gift and after installing and setting up my voice profile I was in love with how accurate this software is. I am not sure software can get more accurate than this.
I have seen some negative reviews on Amazon and I'm not sure how anyone could give this software a bad review. Like I said I have tested and use a lot of software in the past and nothing has compared to this. I recommend this software to anyone with a disability, or anyone that is a slow typer.
I even typed this review with MacSpeech Dictate and it only took a few seconds. Because it allows me to speak in my natural voice and at my natural pace.
New Review on Bad Comments for an Awesome Product September 14, 2008
L.M.Fields (Orlando, FL)
71 out of 72 found this review helpful
Written Sept 2008:
I did my homework. I read the reviews. All of them... good, bad, here and all over the net. Then, I contacted the company to get their side. For every bad review you'll find the facts are simple... a bad line of disks were burned for production and put on the shelves early on this year. It was unfortunate but the problem was eventually fixed, new disks were produced and the product worked.
I am a writer, trying my best to get my story out as quickly as possible because my fingers can never type faster than this movie plays in my head and my constant self-editing prevents me from achieving my goals. With MacSpeech Dictate, I have found a new way to overcome my obstacles. It is, and does, all the company claims on their site. I was able to speak as I normally would with the exception of having to "say" the punctuation... something quickly learned using the 15 minute training. I didn't have to slow down except to pause before and after each punctuation, again, no big deal.
So, if you have the need, a MAC computer with Intel inside, using MAC OS 10.4.11 or newer, and 2gb of memory or more, than feel good knowing this software might be the answer to your prayers. I am giving it both thumbs straight up.
Best Speech Recognition To Date! April 19, 2008
Steve Alcorn (Orlando, FL USA)
83 out of 87 found this review helpful
I'm puzzled by the negative reviews of this product. I've had the best possible experience with it. Previously I've used Dragon Naturally Speaking since version 6, and have watched the product gradually improve in accuracy, eventually reaching about 99%. Unfortunately, although that sounds good, it's wrong just enough to make an extremely careful scrutinizing of everything it does necessary. Since I teach online writing classes, I need to post hundreds of messages some days, and I really would like to rely on my speech recognition software for near perfection, as long as I dictate clearly.
As a recent convert to the Mac, I was delighted to hear about MacSpeech Dictate, and I pre-ordered it expecting it to be a lot like Naturally Speaking (since that's the engine it uses). Well, either they've improved it, or the Mac's superior hardware performance makes a huge difference, because after the initial five minute training, I could dictate rapid-fire speech with nearly 100% accuracy. MacSpeech Dictate's installation and performance have been completely flawless, and I find myself using it more every day. It's easily the biggest productivity leap of any software I've ever purchased.
For the record, I use a 2.4Ghz aluminum iMac with 2GB of RAM. I routinely dictate into Pages, Firefox and Notes, and am sure it works with everything else. I don't use it for command navigation, but that's just personal preference. I use the supplied USB microphone plugged into my keyboard. The mic seems a bit plasticky, but works great.
Because of the streamlined Mac interface, there aren't really many settings you can change on this program. The thing I miss is the ability to retrain an often misunderstood word. There's one specialized word I use a lot that it always gets wrong. Other than that, I have no complaints or wish list items, and would buy MacSpeech Dictate again in a heartbeat.
Excellent results if you spend some time on it. August 10, 2009
Jessica Farrone (Fairfield, CT United States)
43 out of 43 found this review helpful
I am working on my final project for my Nurse Practitioner/MSN degree and bought this software to assist with transcribing dozens of recorded interviews into written text documents. While this is not the best program for transcription by any means, it was the least expensive route for me and could be used for many other applications (to write papers, case studies, emails etc.). I have never used any other program so I cannot compare it to Dragon or ilisten but here goes...
As of July 18th, Amazon was shipping the 1.3 version. This version works very well on it's own. I was hesitant to upgrade to the 1.5 after I familiarized myself with the 1.3. After I registered the program online, the newest version (which is now 1.5.2) was mailed to me within 2 days. It was not just an update disc that I received, but rather a full, sealed, brand new program that included everything the 1.3 contained except the headset. It was remarkably easy to upgrade and automatically transferred my "profile" from 1.3 to 1.5.2 so nothing was lost.
The KEY to using this software is to SPEND THE TIME READING THE MANUAL AND TRAINING THE SOFTWARE. If you want something that will work flawlessly right out of the box, this is not for you. It WILL work right away but not as well as it should. The program comes with a "Quick Start" 4 page pamphlet to get you started but the website offers a 156 page pdf of the full manual that is essential to running the program smoothly. (I applaud the company for trying to be a little green by not including it in the package) I must admit, I spent the better part of a weekend studying the manual and training the program, but I am not tech savvy by ANY means.
The included headset works perfectly. It is not the most comfortable and it feels a little cheesy but it does the job well. I wear it around my neck with the mic a few inches from my mouth and have no problems. Contrary to other reviewers claims, you CAN use the internal mic on your computer with this program if you download a free version LineIn from [...] This allows you to send your internal mic to soundflower and Dictate will take input from soundflower. Personally, I prefer the headset because it has a 10 foot cord and I can move around while I dictate (dusting, folding clothes, etc)
Here are a few helpful hints:
1) As stated above, YOU MUST THOROUGHLY READ THE ONLINE MANUAL AND SPEND TIME VOICE TRAINING THE PROGRAM
2) If you have a laptop like mine (early 2009 aluminum macbook) you must use the FRONT USB port for your headset/mic. Apparantly, the REAR USB port (the one closest to the screen) also powers the keyboard, track pad, bluetooth, isight camera, etc and is a "weaker" port. (That is a discussion for another day)
3) Every time you begin dictating--even if you were only away from it briefly-- you should go to tools --> microphone set-up and re-calibrate the mic. It takes about 45 seconds and makes a huge difference!
4) NEVER EVER type into a document when you are dictating! You must not use your hands to make corrections or the program will get confused and work very erratically!
5) If all else fails, DON"T PANIC! The best thing you can do is create a new user profile. This is like starting anew and saved me from throwing the computer out the window after my combination of speech and typing had disastrous effects on the recognition
This program has been a Godsend for me. It has saved me hours of typing and works nearly flawlessly with AMAZING accuracy and speed. I highly recommend it if you are able to put the time in to train it correctly:)
Fantastic product January 28, 2009
Brad Teare (Providence, Utah, USA)
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
I am dictating this review using MacSpeech Dictate. If I have to make a correction with my keyboard I will indicate the correction using brackets.
My wife knew I wanted this program so she bought [it] for me for Christmas. I had read many of the reviews and had decided I would wait until some of the bugs have [had] been worked out. So it was with some reticence that I loaded the program onto my computer Christmas day. From some of the reviews I thought it would blow my computer up. However, with some encouragement from my daughter I decided to install it. It was surprisingly easy. I did have two [to] download the patch from the MacSpeech website. But I was prompted to do so and everything went smoothly (I have a wireless Internet connection which made it easy).
It took me about 20 minutes to do the training. It went well. However, the first few times I tried to dictate it didn't go well. At first I feared it was a complete waste of money. After working with it for a while thing[s] started [to] work better until finally it seemed to work perfectly. I did do a few of the training exercises over again, just to be on the safe side. As you can see it's doing a pretty good job. Occasionally I use the recognition menu which allows you to verbally select from a list of options. This is especially good if there is a lot of background noise. I'm actually using it occasionally right now because I find it easier to dictate while I look at the screen. The manual tells you not to do that but for some reason for me it works better. I look at the screen while I type so it seems natural for me to look at the screen while I dictate.
So what initially seemed like a potential disaster turned out to be a lot of fun. I never let on to my wife that her gift initially terrorized me.
I don't really understand those who bash the program. Maybe they type a lot better than I do. In the final analysis I give MacSpeech Dictate high marks. Naturally it makes mistakes, and the mistakes can be hard to find because the program never misspell[s] anything. But all things considered it truly is amazing.
[I]incidentally, there is a great manual in the help menu. It has everything I needed to know about the program, plus some that [I] haven't gotten to yet but hope[d] to learn about soon (like using it to do commands in programs like Photoshop).
I dictated this review with only eight typos. That's a lot better than if I had typed everything.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 176
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