A voice-recognition program won't replace your PC keyboard, but the software does have practical uses. Today's best programs — ScanSoft's Dragon NaturallySpeaking6 Preferred Edition ($200) and IBM's ViaVoice9 Pro USB Edition ($220) — can help you do much more than dictate letters.
Both IBM and ScanSoft say you can achieve about 90 percent accuracy out of the box. Although that rate may seem respectable, it can be frustrating if you're trying to write a mistake-free document. Until the computer learns your individual speech patterns, you'll find yourself having to make manual corrections to most sentences. If you're a hunt-and-peck typist, speech-recognition software can be a time saver. But if you're a proficient typist, you'll want to stick to the keyboard.
Although both manufacturers say their software works well on Pentium III-equipped computers, we found that the accuracy rate fell dramatically as the computer struggled to keep up with even carefully pronounced words. A new Pentium 4 computer is a must if you want to get the most out of the programs.
Which of the two programs should you choose? In our test, ScanSoft's Dragon software was better at speech-to-text recognition right out of the box, while IBM's ViaVoice required more training.
On the downside, Dragon has far fewer commands programmed into it, requiring a lengthy programming and learning process to use it to activate and navigate other programs, especially e-mail. The microphone headset included with Dragon is also inferior, with only one earpiece and a small microphone. ViaVoice, on the other hand, has a stereo headset with the latest in digital-signal processing.
Although it may take a little longer for ViaVoice to learn the pattern of your voice, you'll have a more flexible, easier-to-use program in the long run, which makes ViaVoice the better choice overall.
If you're running Windows XP (home or professional) or Office XP, it's better to use the $220 ViaVoice Pro version. If you're using Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000 or an earlier Windows product — along with Office 2000 or an earlier version of Office — you can use the ViaVoice Advanced edition ($105).
The Advanced edition has most of the same features as the Pro USB edition, but it doesn't work as well with Windows XP or Office XP. A new version of ViaVoice (version 10) is due out soon and will work with XP software at the lower Advanced edition price.