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(More customer reviews)Okay, let me start off by saying that I Do Not work for Phillips. And while I realize that this is a very expensive product, its value far outweighs its price. Over the last several years I have probably spent at least $200 on various microphones, trying to find one that would work satisfactorily with Dragon Naturally Speaking. I wish I had known that this little device was all I needed.
I've always loved Dragon (now on v.10), but it's long been a frustrating love-hate relationship. Because as amazing as the program clearly was, it was always such a frustrating experience to try and dictate any sort of statement, letter or memo due to the inevitable and unavoidable little errors (numerous errors!) that you have to be constantly correcting. But now, with this truly miraculous little microphone, those errors are almost a thing of the past.
And while it might seem awkward to some to actually hold the microphone in your hand, it's so natural and effortless that it's entirely comfortable and I would never dream of going back to wearing a typical headset-mic, which is usually uncomfortable or else awkward to take on and off, whenever you have to step away.
I've had this new microphone now for 3 days and I've probably used Dragon for more in those 3 days than I have in the past 6 months. Anywhere that I have to type anything more than a sentence or two, I just reach for the mic.
It uses a USB connection, and so I just unplug it when I'm leaving the office, and then I just plug it back in to my desktop PC once I get home. Then it just sits there, ready for when I need to compose an e-mail or dictate a comment (like this one).
At work I'm constantly composing and replying to e-mails from clients or co-workers, and in just two days this device has already increased my productivity and responsiveness. Also, by virtue of the fact that it is handheld, you're able to use it more discreetly than you would a typical headset mic, where you can end up talking louder than you realize because it's harder to regulate your volume with one ear covered.
Also, by virtue of it being handheld you don't have to worry about your breathing or a stray cough inadvertently activating it, the way you might with a standard headset mic. If you need to cough or exhale heavily you just turn your head, hold the mic away and you're good to go.
At work I was showing it off to everyone, and they were naturally impressed. But the one thing we noted was that there is probably one situation where you likely don't want to use the Dragon program, regardless of the microphone: This would likely be with children who are high school age or younger. The reason being that they might never learn how to spell properly, because Dragon never makes a mistake (except occasionally in 'context').
But back to this miraculous microphone. Yes, it's a lot of money. But the minute you hold this device in your hand you realize the quality. I showed it to some friends and they couldn't even figure out what it was until I told him. It's sort of like when you step into a luxury automobile and you just say, "Wow!" Similarly, you can just tell that this thing is Quality.
I've tried some handheld mics in the past, and generally just touching the outer body would trigger the mic element to pick up a sound. Or else their directional capabilities would be out of whack. But not so with this baby. It's not 'Too' sensitive that it picks up your handling the mic body, and it's directional mic seems to pick up exactly where your voice is coming from, while it ignores or cancels other extraneous noise.
In fact, since this review is starting to get a little long, and I'm now getting a bit tired of holding the mic, I've set it down on a slightly raised area of my desk and I'm dictating directly into the open air (as if I were on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise) and the mic is picking everything up without missing a beat.
Granted, I did increase the volume of my voice just slightly, but otherwise I'm sitting here speaking into the air and everything I say is going straight to the page before me.
I'm a big-time techno-geek but still I have to marvel at what I'm witnessing.
Honestly, I wish I had this device several years ago. I can only imagine how much greater my productivity would have been. And if you think you need something like this, believe me, You Do! If you have to beg, borrow or save (don't steal) in order to pay the $300, just do it. As I described earlier, I probably spent close to a much over the years on various mic solutions that just never worked out.
btw, another reviewer wrote that he liked the mic, but described some issues with the software interface. Actually, in my case I never even installed the software. I've just plugged it straight into my home PC and office PC, where Windows automatically detected it, and I'm just using it as a "dumb" microphone (which it certainly isn't, but you know what I mean).
Eventually, when I have time, I'll install the interface program, mostly just so that I can program the function keys to do basic things inside Dragon. But otherwise, no worries.
Sorry that this review dragged on for so long, but as you can see, I'm gushing.
Thank you, Phillips, for a truly, truly brilliant and marvelous product.
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