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There are 3 reviews for this product.
I tried their Chinese version in 1998 - wasnt impressed.
I thought that they should have achieved something `significant` since it has been 10 years. But somehow I didnt feel much difference on recognition accuracy in this version.
The dictation system requires the user to speak in a very standard accent, which means: you had better talk like BBC News or pretend to be Tony Blair if you want decent results. This isnt easy for me because I am not a native English speaker. Sometimes I do not pronounce words correctly of course this is not machines fault - I checked my dictionary and found it was my mistake.
Also, if you are heavy type-writer like I am, you may not be comfortable with idea of `dictation` itself. It would need a while to get yourself used to it.
You may need a powerful machine. The manual says that a 400MHz machine will do well, but I dont think its entirely true. My 1.4G Centrino runs like sea-turtle moving on beach when VoiceCentre is on.
The software is not as stable as I thought. It has crashed for a few times on my machine - even when I clicked the link for `Technical Support` in help file.
With all these problems, why I still give it a high mark?
Well, as a Software Engineer myself, I know how much effort is needed for such a system. From design perspective, it is still quite good. The noice-cancellation microphone and headset are excellent (its NOT another 1-pound PC microphone!). The user manual is great, no typing error, which doesnt look like dictated:). The voice commands can free your hands. It automatically searches for actions in your applications. So you can enjoy the convenience with little hassle for configuration (though it takes a while to remember how to speak all those commands).
Easy correction is particularly important in an environment like voice recognition. The correction window is handy. You can make correction without typing - just with voice commands!
All in all, this is a great product which requires some training for both your buddy machine and you, but you would be rewarded - keep these in your mind when you pay for it. Or, if you are looking for a 90-quid software which can instantly work as perfectly as in your imagination, then forget about it:) Science is gold, but not diamond (yet).
LZ
Reviewed by: Amazon Reviewer Rating:  Date Reviewed: 07Jul2007 | | | I have been using IBM ViaVoice eight for several years and I have got on extremely well with this programme. I have now up graded my computer and I decided to try Dragon naturally Speaking 8 preferred. I found that this programme is extremely slow, poor recognition and would not work very well on the internet.
I have now bought IBM ViaVoice 10, it installed perfectly first time.
This programme is extremely fast, the writing is on the screen instantly. It worked in all programmed that I have and on the internet. I would go as far as to say this programme is brilliant. I would recommend, the more memory that you have on your computer, the better. I have one gigabyte of memory and Two gigabyte processor. After installing the programme, I said all the names of my family and address, it all came out perfectly. I would highly recommend this programme. I hope this is of some interest to you.
Reviewed by: Amazon Reviewer Rating:  Date Reviewed: 17Jan2006 | | | Another reviewer suggests that Via Voice users either love it or hate it. Im definitely in the second category. My speech is generally pretty clear, with English as my first language and no regional accent. Even so, Via Voices recognition/accuracy is very poor. Occasionally it can surprise by having a run of, oh, two or three sentences where it gets most things right. But the majority ranges from wrong-but-just-recognisable, to utter gibberish.
Via Voice also has all sorts of tics and oddities where it inserts odd spaces and words that you havent said. And the annoying little graphic help character (like the MS Office paperclip - enough said...) turns up uninvited quite a lot. Another issue is that things like numbers are difficult to dictate. According to the instructions, this should be really simple, but in practice, it doesnt work.
Unfortunately, it seems that if you dont get on with it to begin with, it doesnt really improve. Training the software is limited - once youve been through the training package at set-up, there doesnt seem to be much else you can do - not that I could find, anyway.
If youre looking at this alongside other products, you may find it useful to know that I am running via voice on my home PC, and on my similarly specced machine at work, I have Dragon Naturally Speaking (just a very average version - the Standard package of version 7.0). There is almost no comparison between the two. Dragon is massively more accurate and easy to use. Via Voice may have strengths that have eluded me, but if youre after a quick, accurate text transcription package, there is no question about which product out of these two you should choose.
Reviewed by: Amazon Reviewer Rating:  Date Reviewed: 25Nov2004 | | |
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