Sony ICDSX68DR9 Digital Voice Recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking RE Software Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm writing this review with this software and recorder package.It's fair to say that I'm very conflicted about it.On the one hand, now that it's all working correctly, this is a tremendous product package that seems to offer enormous possibilities.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.The recorder itself works very well, is quite accurate, and has instructions are clear and easy to understand.The battery life is seems quite long and the capacity in terms of the amount of recordings that it can hold is enormous.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.The "Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 9 Recorder Version" software, however, comes with virtually no instructions.Nowhere in the package or in the recorder instruction manual is there anything useful about using it.Using the help system that comes with the software is initially awful and usually unhelpful.After a seemingly uncomplicated installation process, I quickly ran into roadblocks figuring out what to do to get it working. At the website of Nuance software, the manufacturer of Dragon Naturally Speaking, you look in vain for any suggestions. They mentioned one free help call and a charge for each call after that.More remarkable is discovering that the "Recorder Version" software appears nowhere on their website.I learned from Sony that this version of Dragon is less than fully functional, but how it differs, I have no idea.One of the first installation screens allows you to upgrade, of course, at a cost. 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. A call back from their expert on the Dragon software never happened.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.Talk to them."There were no instructions or manuals at Sony on how to use the product.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 was pleased with his persistence and patience.It may be that the upgrade will prove worth it at some point, and I may do it.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. The business practices of Nuance software are reprehensible. How Sony and got roped into putting this package together with no instructions for a complicated software package is beyond me.

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. 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.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.

This is where I am with it today.It now seems to work almost flawlessly, but I've left a lot of stuff out about how I got there.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.If you're up to the challenge, the price you pay for this package may be worth the difficulties.

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Product Description:
Capture audio at business meetings, lectures and classes with the ICD-SX68DR9 and then watch as you use the included Dragon NaturallySpeaking software to print out what you recorded. You can drag your favorite MP3 files right to the device and listen to your music while on the go.

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