Screenshots: Five dictation apps for your PC
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Introduction
Introduction
As someone who writes for a living, I have relied onrndictation software for a number of years. Dictation software allows me torncomplete my work more quickly than would otherwise be possible, and it reducesrnthe potential for getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Today, a number of dictation appsrnare available for the PC. These applications vary widely in terms of price andrnfeatures. Let’s look at five possible options.
Note: This gallery isrnalso available as an article.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium
DragonrnNaturallySpeaking 13 Premium is the speech recognition application I usernfor my day-to-day work. Dragon has been around for many years, so it’s time tornmature. When properly trained, Dragon version 13 makes very few dictationrnerrors.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium
Although Dragon’s accuracy is definitely its biggest sellingrnpoint, it also includes a number of nice features. For example, it allows yournto link multiple sound hardware devices to a user’s profile, so you can switchrnto a different microphone without creating a brand new profile. Dragon lets yourncreate a backup of your profile, too. This is an important option, becausernDragon learns over time and becomes more accurate as you dictate or performrnadditional training. Without a backup option, a hard disk crash could mean retrainingrnDragon from the beginning.
Dragon 13 Premium sells for $199.
Braina
Braina
Braina offers a Lite version of its software for free. The PROrnversion can be licensed for either $29.00 per year or $59 for three years.
Express Dictate
Express Dictate
Once recorded, audio can be saved for later, archived, or sentrnto a transcriptionist. The software even supports HIPAA-compliant encryption ofrnaudio data.
Express Dictate sells for $79.99, but a free 14-day trialrnversion is available for download.
SpeakToText
SpeakToText
SpeakToText uses its own editor for dictation but containsrnmenu options for copying text to Word or to the clipboard. Clipboard text canrnalso be pasted into the editor.
SpeakToText sells for $39.95, but a free trial is availablernfor download.
Dictation Pro
Dictation Pro
The voice recognition engine contains options to create andrnmanage voice profiles and to start and stop dictation. The software also containsrna voice training function, and you can add words on an as needed basis, but thernsoftware is not as advanced as Dragon. The built-in word processor is roughlyrnon par with Microsoft WordPad.
Dictation Pro sells for $29.95, but a free trial version isrnavailable for download.
