Dragon NS 13 misunderstanding everything and going at snail's pace!

Iseulth wrote:

I finally went with Dragon NS 13 (premium) as per the advice of several fellow translators. However, despite my favourable laptop configurations and having completed the tutorial (within which, everything appears to move swiftly and efficiently), it goes at an unbelievebly slow pace, skips or misunderstands 25% of what I say. I have changed the slider to "fastest response", created a second user, to no avail....On a side note, despite enabling the option to use outside applications, I cannot type directly into studio...has anyone had this problem? I am going to query it further with the vendors tomorrow, really don't want to have to return it as have heard great things about it but as it is at the moment, it is completely useless...

Mario Chavez wrote:

Iseulth,
Regardless of your laptop configuration (which should include at least 4 GB of RAM just for working with Dragon NS in my experience), the likeliest culprit could be the microphone.

First, Dragon NS 12.5 (I don't have 13 or later) does not recognize the onboard microphone in my laptop (I run Windows on Boot Camp in my 2009 MacBook Pro with 8 GB of RAM).

Second, the headset that comes with Dragon NS is a POS. Throw it away and buy yourself a professional-level microphone. I use an Audio Technica USB 2020 and it works like a charm.

I don't run Dragon NS on my CAT tools. Ever. I type faster than I speak around encapsulated codes.

What was the culprit in your particular situation? Too many programs open?

Iseulth wrote:

I can now translate directly in Studio, gmail, etc and the pace is acceptable, and it correctly interprets 90% of what I dictate. Have only been using it for a few hours but am pretty impressed how it works!