Dragon software
So, several years ago we had Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13. And up till then I always thought DPI was ‘dots per inch’.
But then came Dragon 14… the ‘NaturallySpeaking’ part of Dragon’s name was lost and the new version was called ‘Dragon Professional Individual’, or ‘DPI’ for short.
Versions of DPI
At the time of writing the current version is Dragon Professional Individual 15. That’s the version for Windows PC.
This version is intended for the individual PC user, rather than for installation on network servers. The Enterprise version of Dragon that can do that is called Dragon Professional Group.
Then there’s ‘Dragon Professional Individual for Mac’ for… obviously… the Mac. That doesn’t have the number 15, but the current version has ‘v6’.
You’ll understand that nowadays, in my world, DPI doesn’t have much to do with ‘dots per inch’ anymore. It stands for Dragon Professional Individual.
In case you were wondering… I do not sell Dragon software, just the online training/online course for Dragon. Make sure to sign up for the waiting list if you want to keep up to date!
If you’re in The Netherlands, however, just go to my Dutch site and you’ll be able to purchase software and microphones.
Is Dragon for me?
It’s pretty complicated to start using Dragon (NaturallySpeaking) if you hardly have any computer experience.
Rather than explain the issues and possible solutions, I’ll refer you to a blog post that I wrote about your specific question.
Microphone
Unfortunately not!
Although the manufacturer promises that you can successfully use built-in laptop microphones for Dragon, I have found this to be incorrect.
I’ve tried with the built in microphone of my own Surface Pro and results were dismal.
Also, one of my clients created a new user profile using the built in mic of his laptop. He could not dictate successfully at all. When I came for his individual tuition for Dragon, we plugged in a suitable microphone (Jabra). Although we recalibrated the audio, recognition results remained subpar.
The only solution was to create a new user profile with a suitable microphone. I must say that I was quite surprised that choosing a new ‘source of dictation’ (i.e. mic) and checking that microphone via the Dragon settings was no solution to the poor recognition results. We had to create an entirely new profile.
Check out my microphone recommendations if you need a mic for Dragon.
Check here for microphone models that are approved by the manufacturer Nuance.
Let me know if your mileage varies
Do you agree with me that the built in mic is rubbish for Dragon? I’d love to know; just put in a quick comment below. Thanks!
