Dragon Naturally Speaking 8.0
Thread poster: yolanda Speece
yolanda Speece
yolanda Speece  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:20
English to Spanish
+ ...
Jan 27, 2005

Does anyone know anything about this type of software? If so, please share.

It looks like a very helpful software but I don't know enough about it to want to invest in it.

Oh! and for those of you that clarified Trados for me, Thanks!


 
Bruce Popp
Bruce Popp  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:20
French to English
Excellent speech recognition Jan 27, 2005

Hi,

There have been other discussions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, so you may want to search the forums to see what has already been said.

I started using Dragon Naturally Speaking with version 7.0, I upgraded to 8.0 in the fall, and I am very pleased.

The English language versions generally come out three to six months before other language versions so a Spanish version of 8.0 might not be available yet. A combined English and Spanish version might be av
... See more
Hi,

There have been other discussions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, so you may want to search the forums to see what has already been said.

I started using Dragon Naturally Speaking with version 7.0, I upgraded to 8.0 in the fall, and I am very pleased.

The English language versions generally come out three to six months before other language versions so a Spanish version of 8.0 might not be available yet. A combined English and Spanish version might be available.

The main difference between 7.3 and 8.0 is a significant improvement in accuracy. They advertise that 8.0 offers 99% accuracy (one misrecognized word in 100), and this fits my experience---my results are probably even better.

The rate of sustained speech recognition is substantially faster than a very, very good typist and that is the main reason for getting Dragon.

Dragon does need to be trained: it learns your voice characteristics, speech patterns and word choices. Some training is done during program installation and set-up, and additional training occurs during use; you do need to be persistant about correcting misrecognitions and it helps to run the accoustic optimizer. I'm still seeing improvement with the new version that I installed in October, but I think it is reaching a plateau.

Finally, speech recognition is demanding of computer performance and this has led some people to increase their RAM or get new computers. A Pentium 4 with 1 GB of RAM is desireable for good performance.

Enjoy,
Bruce
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Williamson
Williamson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:20
Flemish to English
+ ...
Discount Jan 27, 2005

Don't forget to offer a discount for the use of Dragon, like most of us do for the use of trados.

 
Alison Schwitzgebel
Alison Schwitzgebel
France
Local time: 21:20
German to English
+ ...
New laptop, DNS 8 and Trados 6 Jan 27, 2005

...this has led some people to increase their RAM or get new computers. A Pentium 4 with 1 GB of RAM is desireable for good performance.



I currently use a laptop with 712 MB RAM and a high-speed processor. I also use Trados 6.5 Freelance. Do I need to up my RAM before going for DNS?

I've seen some (very expensive) laptops with 2GB of RAM, and have been toying with the idea of getting one to cope with DNS and Trados, but if I can save my pennies by running both programs on my old laptop by just increasing the RAM then I would prefer that option.

I know that laptops have their limitations, but I need mine due to my current family situation (I'm kind of split between Scotland and Germany at the moment).

Look forward to any input!

Alison


 
yolanda Speece
yolanda Speece  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:20
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Discount Jan 27, 2005

What do you mean?

 
Fernando Toledo
Fernando Toledo  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 21:20
German to Spanish
I think Jan 27, 2005




Williamson wrote:
Discount

Don't forget to offer a discount for the use of Dragon, like most of us do for the use of trados.



yolanda Speece wrote:

What do you mean?


just a joke

It is carnival!

Rgds

[Edited at 2005-01-27 21:59]


 
Uldis Liepkalns
Uldis Liepkalns  Identity Verified
Latvia
Local time: 22:20
Member (2003)
English to Latvian
+ ...
I think I have to add Jan 27, 2005

my view to Toledo's post to avoid misunderstandings:
I myself have translated 10 page Agreement LV>EN in an hour using Office XP inbuilt speech recognition + half an hour to remove all "the" and like, computer wrote when someone in the building struck the door or I myself coughed.

No discount to the client, of course, rather a factor to multiply with for a speed...

Uldis


[Edited at 2005-01-27 22:00]


 
Williamson
Williamson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:20
Flemish to English
+ ...
An old translator's tradition. Jan 28, 2005

Well, according to the good old translator's tradition aren't we supposed to give discounts for tools which enhance or productivity. 99 per cent of us do give rebates for Trados. Not for Déjà Vu and other tools.

 
Alison Schwitzgebel
Alison Schwitzgebel
France
Local time: 21:20
German to English
+ ...
Let's stay on topic Jan 28, 2005

Williamson wrote:

Well, according to the good old translator's tradition aren't we supposed to give discounts for tools which enhance or productivity. 99 per cent of us do give rebates for Trados. Not for Déjà Vu and other tools.


Dear Williamson,

This is an issue on which volumes could be written - however it doesn't really have anything to do with the original subject. If you want to discuss it, perhaps you could open another thread.

Let's stay on topic here.

Thanks!

Alison


 
Bruce Popp
Bruce Popp  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:20
French to English
Look at adding RAM first Jan 28, 2005

Alison Riddell-Kachur wrote:

I currently use a laptop with 712 MB RAM and a high-speed processor. I also use Trados 6.5 Freelance. Do I need to up my RAM before going for DNS?


Hi,

Many new computers, desktops or laptops, are configured and advertised with what, in my opinion, are ridiculously low amounts of RAM. This of course helps make the price look lower. But, the amount of RAM is entirely inadequate for many applications translators commonly use: Microsoft office, Trados, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, desktop publishing software.

I suggest first looking at how to increase the amount of RAM in your computer. How you do this, of course, depends on the model of your computer and how comfortable you feel with working inside it.

Bruce

[Edited at 2005-01-28 14:21]


 
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Colombia
Local time: 15:20
English to Spanish
RAM & CPU seem to be key Jan 28, 2005

From my limited experience and Internet research, what is needed is:

1) Lots of RAM, as DNS will try to keep as much of the "voice files" in RAM to speed the processing. As your voice files grow with usage and training, the more RAM will be required.

2) Lots of CPU power specially if you will be running other demanding applications concurrently.

In December I got a two-processor computer with 1 GB of RAM for running DNS. I assign ("affinity") the second pro
... See more
From my limited experience and Internet research, what is needed is:

1) Lots of RAM, as DNS will try to keep as much of the "voice files" in RAM to speed the processing. As your voice files grow with usage and training, the more RAM will be required.

2) Lots of CPU power specially if you will be running other demanding applications concurrently.

In December I got a two-processor computer with 1 GB of RAM for running DNS. I assign ("affinity") the second processor (PIII 1 GHz) to DNS and in my preliminary tests it reaches 100% usage quite frequently when dictating at a normal rate.

I'd guess that current P4 CPUs with multithreading and much higher speeds can provide better performance than antique PCs such as mine.

Haven't started using it for work but it looks promising.

Best regards.
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yolanda Speece
yolanda Speece  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:20
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Well if I need to increase my RAM Jan 28, 2005

I was actually looking into purchasing another computer. Sony VAIO's came highly recommended because they contain as much as 2 gigs of RAM. The computer runs about 2 grand but I think it would be worth it if this type of software requires this much memory.

This is still along the lines of the subject so do you all recommend a type of computer that would be ideal for this type of software?


 
Bruce Popp
Bruce Popp  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:20
French to English
previous thread Jan 28, 2005

Hi,

You may want to look at this thread (http://www.proz.com/post/184458) for a discussion of computer configurations.

Bruce


 


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