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Voice recognition software - Any advice please

ginabginab
edited October 2015 in Writing
I haven't been on here for quite some time so I'm not sure who I still know on here but I am hoping for some advice please if possible. I have been chronically ill and have been advised to be much tighter on my pacing which involves, to my horror, a reduction in the amount of computer and reading time. Anything that involves visual activity such a watching TV, cross-stitch or puzzles should be avoided as well as no more than a couple of minutes a day on the computer. I am horrified, to say the least but have to acknowledge that they do leave me very tired very quickly.

I vaguely remember someone mentioning Dragon voice activated software a few years ago (I think it was Dorothy) and thought at least I could recorded rather than type my work for now. There are more out there than I realised and hoped some of you may have used them so could give me an idea of how good they are or what to avoid etc please. Any help gratefully received. I will check in tomorrow in my 2 minutes which will take at least 10 for me to log in and check all my various messages!
Many thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    So sorry to hear of your health problems.

    I've not used this type of software, so can't help. Hope you find something which works for you.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    When I had a chronic shoulder problem I looked into Dragon software; there is also free software out there. However, one note of caution: if you use this kind of thing, you need someone to edit the result. I was given a book to review that had been written this way, and it was appalling - the punctuation was off, and homonyms were rife.
    I searched 'voice to text software free' and it came up with a lot of things like this:
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dictate-text-speech-recognition#1TC=windows-7
    It may already be there in your version of Windows/Mac. Have a look before you splash the cash!
  • ginabginab
    Thanks. I have discovered that windows does have this software loaded although as Mrs Bear said it may not be great. I will have to give it a try. I have a dictaphone which I used for recording hypnotherapy scripts but it doesn't have the software for typing it up. Perhaps I will just have to record it all then type it up when I am better. Thanks anyway.
  • LizLiz
    Someone on my feed with similar problems and who is a writer (a literate one!) uses Dragon and is thrilled with it.

    Dorothy on here used to use it and fund it good, and that was years ago. It has improved a lot since then i've been told, and I have thought about using it myself as I frequently forget what I was going to write before I've written to the end of the sentence...

    If you have a mac set up 'Dictation and speech' in settings. Download enhanced dictation - otherwise it sends everything to mac to be interpreted and you don't see it for a while. Enhanced and you see what you have said immediately. For punctuation, just say 'full stop' for instance.

    I like it and it works brilliantly but it is slow on my computer as it's old, about 7 years old - so only half a sentence gets done at a time. But VERY accurate.
  • ginabginab
    Thanks Liz. I am going to have a try at using the settings on my laptop. I've just got to get the energy to get around to it.
  • MutleyMutley
    Dragon is very good.
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