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A big plus when recording a long winded lecture or multiple days of training.Fast download from the recorder to the software on your computer and I also used a thumb to do a back up at the same time.Ease of use is what grabbed me at first. Software for the recorder and Dragon Naturally Speaking installed with ease and I had no glitches.
I don't generally catch on very quickly on the "intuitive use" on most new electronic devices but this one is fairly simple especially as compared to a digital cable remote. I found the instruction booklet understandable, a major plus, the controls on the recorder are easy to use and easily accessible.
Having spent a considerable amount of research time on many brands and models on the internet I decided on this unit because of its features. Was disappointed that the software is not Mac compatible, as I was told via a sales person at Circuit City that it was, but fortunately I have a PC also on which I installed the software.I have not used the Dragon Naturally Speaking software to do the transcribing yet but I sure hope it works as well as the recorder does.Highly recommended from this user.
Certainly more pricey than many recorders but when you consider the ease of use and the inclusion of the Dragon Speaking Naturally Software I think it is well worth the extra money.Sleek and small, has rechargeable AAA batteries and can use regular AAA batteries too.The recorder lasts a long time between battery charges, records very, very clearly, comes with a stand to use on a table top to dampen excess noise and it works too. Has 5 separate folders and each folder can hold up to 999 individual recordings with the ability to bookmark areas within each.
Charles, Salem ORSony ICDSX68DR9 Digital Voice Recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking RE Software
I was up and running in about 20 minutes. I purchased this recorder and then read the reviews and decided to open it and go for it anyway.The installation was a breeze and even the dragon software held my hand every step of the way. I'm not sure why one of the other reviewers had such a bad experience. I'm SO glad I bought this product BEFORE I read the negative reviews. I installed the software, made a test recording, transferred the file, read the provided passage for voice recognition, and the software started transcribing my notes with a fair degree of accuracy.I'm dictating case notes and this product is working wonderfully for me.
The quality of the recording was excellent. The Dragon Naturally Speaking software does allow you to set up multiple speech and writing patterns.
However, attempting to use the Dragon Naturally Speaking software to try and convert the recorded meeting into text was not very good. The software was designed pretty much for an individual's speech pattern not for multple person speaking on a single recording.
I purchased this knowing that it also included the Dragon Naturally Speaking Recorder Edition software with the intention of transcribing meeting recordings into text as MoM (minutes of meeting). The skinny is that both products are very good but like anything else the Dragon Naturally Speaking software will no doubt get better as times passes.
The recorder itself is very simple to operate for recording and play back. The included Sony software that allows you to convert the recordings into a mp3 file onto your computer's hard drive was equally simple to use.
If you are looking for a simple tool to record a single voice pattern and convert into a word or text document, this combination is for you.
While the voice recorder is good, the included Dragon software is horrible. Don't buy, unless you love frustration.
It now seems to work almost flawlessly, but I've left a lot of stuff out about how I got there. This is where I am with it today. At the website of Nuance software, the manufacturer of Dragon Naturally Speaking, you look in vain for any suggestions. The recorder itself works very well, is quite accurate, and has instructions are clear and easy to understand.
The business practices of Nuance software are reprehensible. For disgusted users of earlier versions of the Dragon software, as I was, I can say that this package is head and shoulders above the others that required countless hours of training but still produced text that required endless proof reading and correcting. A call back from their expert on the Dragon software never happened. The battery life is seems quite long and the capacity in terms of the amount of recordings that it can hold is enormous. Using the help system that comes with the software is initially awful and usually unhelpful. Still, Nuance's decision to allow a version of the software onto the market with no documentation, a fourth rate help system and a market model that seems to rely on immediate upgrading and paying for help is unconscionable. Talk to them." There were no instructions or manuals at Sony on how to use the product.
I was pleased with his persistence and patience. Although it took multiple calls spread out over several days, the tech got the program functioning for me by using one of those programs where they take control of my computer remotely and demonstrated the basic functions to me. I learned from Sony that this version of Dragon is less than fully functional, but how it differs, I have no idea. It may be that the upgrade will prove worth it at some point, and I may do it.
After a seemingly uncomplicated installation process, I quickly ran into roadblocks figuring out what to do to get it working. There are many things I don't yet know how to do, but I can get from the recorder to accurately typed text in a word processor. The "Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 9 Recorder Version" software, however, comes with virtually no instructions. At the same time, I wonder if the upgrade will continue to offer a reasonable interface with the software that the recorder uses that connects to Dragon.
On the other hand, getting to the point where it actually works can best be described as torture and not for the faint of heart. They mentioned one free help call and a charge for each call after that. I called the Sony help line, level 1,multiple times with no useful results until they gave me the number for Sony level 2 support. On the one hand, now that it's all working correctly, this is a tremendous product package that seems to offer enormous possibilities. How Sony and got roped into putting this package together with no instructions for a complicated software package is beyond me.
Another tech told me that I couldn't call Nuance software for assistance because calls to them would be met with, "this is a Sony product. With this software, the dictation to text has been nearly perfect except for words that are unusual, and this problem is the same as having a new secretary confronted with vocabulary unfamiliar to her. I'm writing this review with this software and recorder package. One of the first installation screens allows you to upgrade, of course, at a cost. It's fair to say that I'm very conflicted about it.
More remarkable is discovering that the "Recorder Version" software appears nowhere on their website. I did have to go to Sony help to get the recorder software (not the dictation software) to work on Vista -- relatively painless.So much for the good stuff. Nowhere in the package or in the recorder instruction manual is there anything useful about using it. If you're up to the challenge, the price you pay for this package may be worth the difficulties.
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