Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

PLEASE NOTE -- I'm TYPING this paragraph, but the REST of the review was dictated (unedited for insertion here, except where noted therein) by using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred, using the minimum required training, even though the product is advertised as requiring NO training. Use your imagination to figure out what I was really saying during that dictation! The first thing I thought was important to note in this review was that there are a couple full Asia's comments that were used in the advertising for this product on Amazon.com. First, the advertisement states that, "no script reading required to get started", and "require no training," which are both statements that are utterly untrue. As soon as installation is completed, you are asked to begin training for the new user -- just as in previous versions. I'm as shocked as such blatantly false statements could be made in the product's manufacturer or not get in trouble for making them. When you began in and immediately insisted she go to the standard training, in fact I think it's the same training required in Virgin eight with the same selections. In fact, I tried starting dictation without doing any training, and I was informed that the user files were not ready to allow this user to begin dictation yet; instead, I was required to get into the same training as was required in Virgin eight before I could do any dictation. Thus, the reason for my giving this product such a low rating out of the box is because of the false advertising, backspace; if it gets better I mean in my original rating to reflect improvements in the product if they happen during further use in training. "Mean in my" in that last sentence was actually "I may emend" (had to type those three words by hand). As to whether this program's (that word originally came out as "Koran's"!) dictation is 99% correct as adverse ties in the description, you can be the judge from this dictation's accuracy or inaccuracy. Oh yes, I also had the same problem of us have had with insistence of either register and reregister and reregister the product. It is very possible, and that it will improve with use. However, I'm very frustrated that I opted to delete my previous user files from Virgin eight because I was told by the advertisement of a product that there was no dictation necessary which suggested that I did not need mild user files. The word "mild" in the previous sentence actually was "my old." So much for 99% accuracy. So far, I can't really tell any difference in original accuracy over Virgin eight, other than the fact that the Dragon bar is graphics look a little different. The tutorials are the saying with the exception of a small addition of conveying its(that was Advanced) tutorials covering a small amount of information. The training looks the same date, the N. accuracy at star looks about the same, as Virgin eight. I hope this will improve with training, but I have to say that I'm definitely not throw for false advertising regarding a lack of training needed to begin using this product. Other than the addition of an extra installation disk or a DVD, I'm really beginning to wonder if there is any difference for improvement with Virgin nine over Virgin eight, other than the fact that I just blew another [...], after the rebate a having gotten yet, to "upgrade." And, by the way, I truly do not speak ungrammatical he, which I'm guessing is the impression you getting from the gobbledygook you reading here. Point being, what comes out of my mouth does not as necessarily equal what comes out on the page. Again judge for yourself the insistence that there is no training needed you can start right away and then it is 99% accurate. That is In Oh TE what I just said, and so much for the autopunctuation functions accuracy. Good grief! Even one I try to correct a nonsensical vacation, what comes out of my correction is anime remotely what appears on the screen to be oh so incredibly accurate Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9. Oh yes brother, that's got to be in 99th percentile for sure exhalation mark. --- Addendum (this is typed, not dictated) -- Another reviewer here, Chris B, is also absolutely right about the "uninvited guest" InstallShield Update Manager that surreptitiously gets installed with DNS9 Preferred. I didn't see it until after posting my initial review. This "Service" even becomes a permanent fixture in your CONTROL PANEL, and it apparently now "manages" my updates for Jasc and Corel products on my computer in addition to DNS9 Preferred. After finding that it does not work to fix the update error problem (see below), I've simply firewall-blocked its recurrent attempts to access the Internet for unknown/undisclosed reasons. Really annoying, and Chris B is also correct in that I also can not find ANYTHING about this unannounced, background add-on program in the Nuance DNS9 documentation. Interestingly, in their "knowledge base," there is the following disclaimer: "The InstallShield Update Manager is not included with any ScanSoft product, but is downloaded from the InstallShield website. To un-install the Update Manager utility, download the remover from Installshield's website." In other words, it doesn't come on the discs, but during installation, they download a third party's program off of the Internet and install it on your computer without your knowledge or permission. Sound comforting? Additionally, my installation of DNS9 can't recognize the fact that the program has been registered (successfully according to the online web page, but unsuccessfully according to the DNS9 on my computer!) THREE times now, so it refuses to check for updates, giving me the "Error 13003: Version Not Registered with the Update Service" message that another reviewer here has also posted about. So, the program won't check for updates. How can I fix that? The grandiosely named "InstallShield Update Manager" does not function to fix this problem (even when I allow my firewall to let it connect to the Internet), so I dunno, but I can get one "free" help call with Nuance, but any further ones cost $19.99 per "incident." Even worse, to email for support, you have to complete a "Problem Report Form," which costs $9.95 per "incident." I've rarely seen a company charge for email tech support. So, to get this program installed properly, I'm supposed to pay THEM to help me debug THEIR product? Really revolting. Again, to borrow from Chris B's review, he's absolutely right about the lack of "good ol' customer service with this mob." The dictation quality is improving slowly, though it's still nowhere near 99% accurate as advertised, and these other headaches, backdoor sneakery, and the CS money racket just to get the product functional make me want to deduct a star from my original review. I won't do that, though, in hopes that this revision isn't "inadvertently withheld in processing" for a week by this site's management as the first version of my review for this product was. My Hardware Info -- Dell Dimension XPS Gen 3, Intel Pentium 4 550 w/HyperThreading (HT) Technology (3.40GHz), 1.00GB RAM, Windows XP SP2, Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM), Telex H-531 DIGITAL USB Microphone Update -- May 07, 2008 -- Broke my Telex microphone while moving and replaced it with a Plantronics Foldable USB Stereo Headset (Optimized for Laptop Use) (Audio 470 USB). Accuracy is substantially better than the Telex, even with minimal training. I can't add any stars to my review, though, because even though this microphone works better, DNS 9 Preferred says that the sound quality of the Telex was better than the Plantronics, even when the Plantronics is functioning better. See my review on the Plantronics microphone for details.