Do you type or use VR software?

[Lewis]

I'm curious to know how everybody interacts with their computer.

Do you physically type or use voice recognition software?

I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.

-Lewis

[This message was edited by Lewis on 03-29-03 at 09:24 PM.]

[PN]

I am using Dragon 6.0.

PN

[PN]

http://carecure.org/forum/showpost.php?p=56646

[alan]

I type - barely.

[Cris]

You need to have "And/or" voice and typing as a selection.

[Carl R]

IBM ViaVoice release 10 and a trackball.

[andrew]

What sort of microphone do others use.
eg. Headset, Cordless headset, desktop etc.

I use a Telex desktop microphone and Dragon 5.

Andrew http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

"You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down"
Tom Petty

[Lewis]

I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 with a Nady wireless system. I either use a lapel microphone when it is quiet or a noise canceling headset.

-Lewis

[Lizbv]

Originally posted by Andrew:

I use a Telex desktop microphone and Dragon 5.


Me too Telex M560 http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[PN]

I purchased a $30 headset from Radio Shack and I also have a headset that is made by Parrott. The Parrott headset comes with a battery pack and seems to work with or without the batteries. I was talking with a salesman and he told me that there are digital headsets.

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0002/08.headset.shtml

PN

[PN]

I just purchased Dragon 7.0 Professional and two representatives at ScanSoft told me to do a clean install. I talked with two other users and they strongly recommend against a clean install.

I was at Best Buy a few days ago and they sell Plantronics digital headset for $69.99. Has anyone tried a digital headset?

PN

[Cris]

Originally posted by Lewis:

I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 with a Nady wireless system. I either use a lapel microphone when it is quiet or a noise canceling headset.

-Lewis

Tell me more about the "noise canceling headset", who makes it, how much, reliability, etc.

Thanks

PS I use Kensinton trackbal and DS 7.

[Lewis]

Cris,

I think the best headset microphone is the ANC 600 which is noise canceling.

http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=052

I believe it is very durable. It is my best/favorite microphone. I can be listening to music or watching TV without any problems in terms of accuracy with Dragon 7.0.

I have ordered from the above company before and have received GREAT service and support. Good luck!

-Lewis

[PN]

Lewis:

You convinced me to purchase Dragon 7.0 Pro Upgrade and the CD should be arriving within the next few days. I understand what you said about doing a clean install and this makes sense to me; however, Dragon 6.0 Professional was a $600 program and the full installation included Internet commands, medical terminology, and voice recognition for games (which I have no time for and I do not know of any software games that use Voice Recognition at this time). It boggles the mind that I should uninstall a $600 software program and replace it with a newer version that sells for $l50.00. I will uninstall it anyway and, keeping my voice files is a low priority. If I recall correctly, you are also using "Knowbrainer" software? I think you have to explain to me one more time why I should purchase this product.

The price on the ANC 600 is very reasonable but is this headset better than a digital one if it has the noise cancellation feature?

PN

[This message was edited by PN on 05-17-03 at 09:46 PM.]

[Lena]

i type with my pencil/pen brace that i have. i'm only able to press one key at a time, but i've gotten really good at it. i've become a darn fast typer. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif

"i am human and i need to be loved, just like everybody does" -- the smiths

[Lewis]

Originally posted by PN:

Lewis:

You convinced me to purchase Dragon 7.0 Pro Upgrade and the CD should be arriving within the next few days. I understand what you said about doing a clean install and this makes sense to me; however, Dragon 6.0 Professional was a $600 program and the full installation included Internet commands, medical terminology, and voice recognition for games (which I have no time for and I do not know of any software games that use Voice Recognition at this time). It boggles the mind that I should uninstall a $600 software program and replace it with a newer version that sells for $l50.00. I will uninstall it anyway and, keeping my voice files is a low priority. If I recall correctly, you are also using "Knowbrainer" software? I think you have to explain to me one more time why I should purchase this product.

The price on the ANC 600 is very reasonable but is this headset better than a digital one if it has the noise cancellation feature?

PN


Dragon 7. 0 costs something like $600 as well, if you are a new user. Trust me, you are not replacing Dragon 6.0 with an inferior version!

I'm not sure about digital verse noise canceling in regards to microphones. Do you have a digital microphones?

-Lewis

[Lewis]

PN,

Knowbrainer has many commands that I use that help reduce steps. There are also many that I do not use. But I myself have found the product worth every penny.

The best thing for you to do to decide is to look over the commands and see what commands you might benefit from. Is the $99 worth it? You need to decide.

Here is a link to the overview and command list:
http://www.knowbrainer.com/wdkatnp.htm

Good luck!

-Lewis

[PN]

Lewis:

At the present time I am not using a digital headset, but I may purchase one if I have any money left over. I need to buy a UPS and may be the Knowbrainer software at $99. I will try to call Lunis tomorrow or Tuesday morning.

Phone Lunis Orcutt at 1 (615) 884-4558

PN

[PN]

I called Lunis this morning and I talked with him for about 10 minutes and he explained to me why I should uninstall Dragon 6.0 and do a clean install with 7.0. Sometimes Dragon 6.0 can run a little "buggy" and it requires my time and energy to make the corrections. When I receive the CD I will do the clean install, and then I will need a little time to make a comparison on the two programs. I also know that I will need a USB hub and Lunis sells this, along with the ANC 600 headset at $49. I think that his prices are competitive with retail stores but I would recommend that you do your homework if you are considering purchasing any of these items.

PN

[PN]

Lewis:

I agree Dragon 7.0 is much better than its predessor, Dragon 6.0. I purchased a 7 port USB powered hub which I needed for my new APC UPS. I may purchase the ANC 600 headset with its voice cancellation feature but I am also considering a digital headset. At this time I can't afford two.

Steven:

When I connected my APC, it said in the manual "not to connect it to a surge protector". I also noticed on my Dell PC, I have a $35 APC surge protector which costs more than the APC UPS 300 watts that I bought on sale for $29.

PN

[Lewis]

PN,

I'm glad you are having a pleasant experience http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

I do not know the difference between a digital headset and one like the ANC 600. You will have to keep me up-to-date!

-Lewis

[PN]

Hi, Lewis.

I'm on Google, making telephone calls, and I am trying to get the lowdown on digital headsets. As soon as I get an answer that makes sense, I will post it.

PN

[Steven Edwards]

Lewis,

In a nutshell, non-digital headsets are analog. Digital headsets are able to pick up sounds more "crisply", eliminating some of the junk noise that analog headsets would pick up.

-Steven

[Lizbv]

Due to changes in my office environment I have been researching headsets for the past three weeks, and no longer using desktop mic. My works upgraded me to 7 professional in Dragon and purchased the GN Netcom Ultra Noise cancelling headset mic and the Andrea USB Pod. Thanks to Linus at Knowbrainer!
www.knowbrainer.com (http://www.knowbrainer.com)

There is a forum at his site also, very informative.

I found out about him at the Dragon Forums here:
http://support.lhsl.com/databases/dragon/sitereg.nsf

He was kind enough to help when I was clueless! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

I'll post in about a week how things are going with the mic, dragon, etc. Its ironic you mention him here. I spoke with him on the phone today and told him about this. I'm going to foward the url to CanCure to him! hopefully he'll post. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Steven Edwards]

Updates on how the new headset works would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Liz! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

-Steven

[Lizbv]

OK, tonight is the first night I really have used my microphone at all. I cannot believe how perfect everything is working! The reason why I got a USB pod is because I can just hook the microphone up to the front of my computer which has a USB port. This way I am able to do it independently at my work computer as well as home use this microphone the GN Netcom 405 UNC SF model. This is awesome! OK, can you tell I'm excited, Steven? :-)

also, I have this microphone only over my right ear and it feels like a feather. Already, after only looking at a page of KnowBrainer's training manual, I can tell several commands normally used in Dragon are now much easier by using less words.

This could be trouble, I might not stop talking! So much for my short posts! ha http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[PN]

Liz,

I have some understanding about the USB pod and I would like to know more about the headset or microphone that you are currently using. I would welcome comments from Linus.

PN

[Lizbv]

Originally posted by PN:

I would like to know more about the headset or microphone that you are currently using. I would welcome comments from Linus.
PN

Hi PN
I purchased everything from Linus, because of the service. Here is what the headset looks like: http://www.gnnetcom.com/usa2003/contactCenter/profile.html
I talked to the technical support guy at GN Netcom discussing what I had found out about companies that use different "manufacturers" that sell the (UNC) Ultra Noise cancelling concept in microphones. He was very helpful in my understanding. Keep in mind that this mic is for loud environments. It best fit my needs because of the office setting, so you might have different situation. The technical support guy also mentioned another mic GN Netcom sells, that being this product, the GN 2100 SoundTube found here, http://www.gnnetcom.com/usa2003/contactCenter/2100SoundTube.html which handles just as well.

I would suggest posting on Linus's forum, lots of info there. EAch manufacuturer I talked to "of course" said theirs was "the best", except the GN guy, I guess cause he wasn't a salesman lol. Its been interesting learning.
More later. tc http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Lewis]

How much did lunis charge you for the microphone? And is it digital?

-Lewis

[Lizbv]

Originally posted by Lewis:

How much did lunis charge you for the microphone? And is it digital?
-Lewis

He charged "cost" as it was the last one in stock. i looked on web and saw them 4 less but he gave me extra accessories plus the information for buying the nessesary pod.

[Lizbv]

Originally posted by Lizbv:

Originally posted by Lewis:
How much did lunis charge you for the microphone? And is it digital?
-Lewis

He charged "cost" as it was the last one in stock. i looked on web and saw them 4 less but he gave me extra accessories plus the information for buying the nessesary pod so just easier to get it all from him.

[PN]

I talked with Lunis (not Linus, sorry) this morning and he believes that there is not much of a difference between analogue and digital head sets. What is most important is the sound card and I think you need a lot of horse power to run voice recognition software. I believe the price of the USB pod is $50 and we already know the price of the ANC 600 head set. I would still like a little more information on digital head sets with the noise cancellation feature. I sent Lunis the URL to this site and perhaps he will answer some of our questions.

Over the phone he did make a point and I agree with him that we need to do price comparison before we purchase any of these items.

PN

[Lunis]

One of the perks of being a voice recognition consultant is that I can justify purchasing any ridiculous toy that can somehow be justified as part of the voice recognition equation. I spend excessive amounts of time playing {scratch that} I mean testing microphones, sound cards, dialers and even monitors.

Per request of the forum administrator I'm posting some microphone information and hopefully dispelling a few rumors:

Purchasing a headset microphone can be somewhat confusing. To make matters worse, places like CompUSA, Best Buy etc. only sell substandard microphones. The world's top-selling headset microphones are Labtec, Telex and Plantronics but I can't really recommend any of them for speech recognition. Some of these headsets combine a USB pod (external soundcard) with a headset microphone. They are often referred to as digital but that's pretty much just manufacturer advertising spin. In order to keep the pricing relatively low, many manufacturers combine a lesser quality headset microphone with a USB pod. However, we cannot recommend any of these combination headsets.

A USB pod is an external soundcard. It is no better or worse than a high-quality PCI soundcard like the Sound Blaster Audigy. If you already own a high-quality soundcard you don't need to purchase a USB pod. If you have a notebook computer, integrated soundcard or questionable PCI card then a USB pod purchase is probably a good idea. My favorite combination for price and quality is the $40 Andrea Electronics USB pod and the $49 Andrea Electronics ANC 600 microphone. Don't be fooled by the $70 ANC 700 microphone. The only difference between the ANC 600 and ANC 700 is cosmetic. The ANC 600 microphone is far less expensive because it has been discontinued in favor of the slightly prettier (but not better) ANC 700. You can find both of these items at ~ http://knowbrainer.com/Cart/description.php?II=2&UID=2003010711243968.53.127.69

Note: Most USB pods are full-duplex (simultaneous sound in and out) but the Andrea USB pod is only half duplex. As long as your computer has a built-in soundcard (it doesn't matter how substandard it might be) all you need is a half duplex USB pod for speech recognition.

If you have other speech recognition related questions please feel free to also visit and post on the new Unofficial NaturallySpeaking Support Forum at ~ http://forum.knowbrainer.com

[Lizbv]

Hi Lunis. Nice to see you brought your smiling face here. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[PN]

Lunis:

Welcome to the Computer Forum! Thank you for responding to our questions regarding this technology.

PN (Moderator not Administrator)