Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 (Wireless Edition) (PC)

Product Description

DRAGON NAT SPEAKING PREF V9.0 WIRELESS HEADSET EN

Customer Reviews:

The future is here .......2007-09-11

About two weeks ago I was asked to write a book on certain aspects of gambling law which will require me, over the next three months, to write approximately 200,000 words. I'm quite a fast typer, but for the quotation of various passages from statute or other reference works it is always quite a slow process to copy type. I had toyed with speech recognition software in the past (reading about it but never quite having the nerve to try it out). The world seems to divide between people who raved about it and people who think that it's a waste of money. As you can probably guess, I am dictating this review having used the software now for approximately 1 week. Sometimes, it is true, that it can be frustrating. However I often find that the frustration is more about the lack of clarity in my own dictation then the computer's ability to understand what I have said. The software copes with a good deal of very technical terminology (I was in fits of giggles the other day after it correctly got reductio ad absurdum correct first time) and in terms of speed it copes very much better than a human would. The important point, I think, is that the software should not be treated as a total solution to ones typing needs. Formatting addresses and putting in technical citations and other fiddly bits will always take longer to dictate them to do by hand. It is also true but one has to do a different kind of proofreading because the type of errors which are thrown up often nonsensical words and there is a danger of looking "slapdash" in one's correspondence. However, as a lawyer working in a technical field, I expect a lot of in terms of vocabulary and grammatical accuracy. Dragon delivers, and at an exceptional price.

Just as a post script to this, I have recently discovered that it is better value to purchase one of the international language versions of the software. The reason is simple, the English version of the software contains for language variants (US English, Asian English, UK English etc) but the international versions include not only the relevant a foreign language (French, German, etc) but also ENGLISH AS WELL. Effectively, therefore, purchasing the French version gets you two languages for the price of one, which may be a useful hint for those who work in more than one language.

Excellent.......2007-08-29

I last used Philips ViaVoice some 7 years ago for the Mac. That was clunky and inaccurate. This is fantastic compared to it. You do just talk as normal and the text arrives on the screen. It hardly needs any training and the accuracy is amazing. Throw in a wireless headset and you have an excellent value product. I am using it in the office dictating emails, notes, letters and longer documents. Handles them all.

Superb word recognition dictation system........2006-11-14

I have been using voice recognition dictation systems for years. Initially I purchased the IBM voice recognition system nearly 10 years ago at a cost of £1000 for the programme. It worked reasonably well and over the years I have upgraded several times now to version 10.

Recently because of frustrations with IBM ViaVoice, with the niggling little problems, I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 (Wireless edition) and I have to say it is quite superb. It is far and away better than the IBM system I have been using and seems to be intuitive in its recognition of your needs and dictation.

Like any new tool, you need to put in a little time for it to get used to you (it is intelligent working on algorithms) and for you to get used to the various commands it is programmed with.

You really can do all of the claimed options, including accessing and dictating into e-mails with ease.
What a shame I did not find out about this system before, it has already saved me time and given me quite a lot of pleasure.

walk and talk.......2006-10-17

It is one of my idiosyncrasies that I like to pace around as I dictate. Hence for me the wireless option was the perfect choice. The headset is one of the comfiest I have ever used and gives excellent recognition accuracy. As you would expect I am dictating this review using Dragon and was pleased to see that it recognized "idiosyncrasies" without any fuss. The software itself is superb and does seem to give noticeably better performance than version 8, which I also thought was pretty good. The only slight note of caution to sound is that it is fairly demanding in terms of its system requirements and needs as a minimum 1 GB of RAM and a 2 GHz processor. The only very slight disappointment was the version 9 has simply refused to accept my nine-year-old daughter's voice, whereas version 8 seems to be far more child friendly and has proved very successful for her.

In summary, I think this product is totally stunning both in terms of the recognition accuracy of the software and the sense of uncluttered wireless freedom that you get with this headset. I totally recommend it.

Philips 9" Digital Photo Frame (9FF2M4/00)

Average customer rating:

Problems with lack of documentation
Image sizing for best results
Great frame, shame about the plug!
thanks
Don't hesitate. I'm glad I bought it

Philips 9" Digital Photo Frame (9FF2M4/00)

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Accessories:

ASIN: B000I0V4NO
Release Date: 2006-10-23

Customer Reviews:

Problems with lack of documentation.......2007-12-30

The appearance of the frame is elegant and the image quality is also good . My complaint is with the documentation . For example having loaded images using the supplied software the memory is full . I am left wondering whether I can create additional slide shows that do not rely on the internal memory . There is nothing in the instructions to tell me if this is possible or how to do it . My camera is a Sony Cybershot and the Memorystick ProDuo is not supported by the Photoframe . This seems a huge disadvantage given the Sony is one of the most popular cameras .

Image sizing for best results.......2007-12-16

Thanks to Ben for his post on sizing the photo's for proper display.

I have been somewhat frustrated with getting the best image size for that frame that allows the most photo's to be loaded into internal memory. I am using a mac so the bundled software was of no use.

After reading information on the net I decided to convert the images to 680 X 480 @ 105 pixels per inch. I also saved the jpeg files at 12 the highest possible quality setting in Photoshop elements. This resulted in a file that was 672 X 480 and 360 KB in size after being loaded into the frame memory. When I viewed the photos converted this way they had a 1/8" white border on each side. After reading Ben's post I converted an image to 688 X 448 @72 pixels per inch. This resulted in a file that was 688 X 448 and 388 KB in size in internal memory. But the displayed image now had a very narrow white band at the top and bottom of the frame. I tried a third time and converted a image to 688 X 460 @72 pixels per inch and increased compression (or lowered the quality ) by moving from 12 to the 10 setting. This resulted in a full bleed image that was 232 KB in size.

This third image looked very good, even at the higher image compression/lower image quality setting. why can't Philips include the recommended exact size with compression settings and pixels per inch (or mm) to help those of us who have to manually convert our images? In every web review that I have seen they say that the internal memory can hold 110-150 images. At what size, quality setting and pixel per inch or mm? What is the recommended level of compression that you can use and still have acceptable images?

****Follow up to this post. I found out the size of the internal memory, 32 MB with 14 MB (reserved), so I think that means that 18 MB are available for photo loading. Now I have been able to load 32 images into the frame but when I try to copy more images in the frame says no more memory left even though it shows 10 MB remaining. I am dragging and dropping into the root directory using the Mac's finder (= to windows explorer). Any ideas or suggestions?

Regards, Michael

Great frame, shame about the plug!.......2007-11-24

This is a great frame - it looks good, the quality of the photos are superb and it is very easy to use. So what is the problem?
I purchased this frame on behalf of my parents, who were delighted with it, until the battery went flat and we got out the AC power adapter to recharge it and found it was a 2 pin plug not compatible for use in the U.K. Assuming that this particular box had been sent in error I emailed Pixmania to find out if this was the case but have heard nothing from them in over a week. Having now returned the frame to them at a cost of £19.95 I have still heard nothing and am therefore very disappointed. The price is very competitive and because of that it was my intention to order 2 more frames but I now wonder if this is the reason for the great price?! Has anyone else who ordered this frame encountered this problem? I now plan to purchase the frames at John Lewis for £189 but at least I know I will receive the correct AC adaptor.

thanks.......2007-11-09

thanks to all who reviewed this product.I was thinking of buying one but the comments about the softwear made me think again.

thanks for helping me make my mind up!

Don't hesitate. I'm glad I bought it.......2007-10-06

Built in software on the frame is easy to use using the 3 navigation buttons. Useful insight from Ben in other review on resizing to 688x488. I used photoshop elements to resize, haven't tried SW that comes on CD. I re-size to 344x488 for portait, then turn on the collage function so that portraits are shown with a few additional small croped prints that fills the frame (almost looks like one of those sets from a school photograph) and just adds an interesting variation.

Download from PC is simply drag and drop, a great range of transitions. Being able to setup mutilpe albums is really handy. Good bright crips picture, with adjustable backlight/brightness, has been admired by many visitors. Most important; wife likes it, and it's been great to get to see some of those older pictures hidden away on the hard drive.

Only 4 stars due to actual viewable picture diagonal being 8 inches and not 9; I noticed Amazon.com sells it as 8-inch. Although the philips site says 9.

Cibox 9" LCD Digital Photo Frame With MP3 & MP4 - Includes Remote Control & 3 Interchangeable Facias

Average customer rating:

very unreliable product
Good value and easy to use
Great value with some minor issues
Well worth it!
good buy

Cibox 9" LCD Digital Photo Frame With MP3 & MP4 - Includes Remote Control & 3 Interchangeable Facias

Manufacturer: CiBOX
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Accessories:

Product Features:

9" Colour LCD screen (16:9 widescreen) for photo display
Supports the following memory cards: SD, MMC, XD, MS, USB Flash Pen Drive (USB2.0 Full Speed)
MP3/MP4 playback; Calender & Alarm Clock, Automatic Customisable Slideshow
Built in Speaker & Adjustabel Stand
4 Interchangable Facias - White, Silver & Black

ASIN: B000OAAXM6
Release Date: 2007-04-16

Product Description

With fantastic picture quality, seamless MP4 playback and the capability to display digital photos up to 16MP, the Cibox Photoframe is a great quality, great looking Photoframe for half the price of other big name equivalents. On top of this - its more than just a 9" LCD Photoframe - it's an MP3 Player, MP4 viewer, Alarm Clock and Calender!!! With an easy to use menu, customisable slideshows, and stylish design with interchangeable coloured faceplates - this digital photoframe would compliment any home.

Customer Reviews:

very unreliable product.......2008-01-20

This product crashed after 2 days and would not read the file again so no photos could be played. Also unable to set date earlier than 2023! sent it back and intend to buy a better quality smaller frame. In this case, although it was a bargain for a 9 inch frame, it was poor quality. Have given it a star only because when it did show the photos, the quality was good. Also instructions were useless and we didn't understand what half the functions eiter did or how to set them. Spend you money on a simpler more reliable model.

Good value and easy to use.......2008-01-10

Just bought one of these after a recomendation from a friend, seems like everyone got a digital photo frame for Christmas!

This one is really good value, simple to set up and use and looks the part.

Great value with some minor issues.......2008-01-06

Getting this item up and running was a piece of cake. Overall its great value and is certainly not top end by price (130+ seems to be that).

Earlier comments about the calendar - its fine, you just need to RTFM !

Media can be loaded by Flash SD card (I have a 2GB card for JPG images) _or_ by USB2 device (Ive plugged in a 60GB USB2 disk for video and it works fine).

If you plugin a USB device it 'takes over' as 'the' media source.

Quality wise, there seems to be visible vertical banding x4, which must be some artifact of manufacture whichis a little offputting but not overly so.

Volume on video playback could have been louder - I ended up feeding it into the stereo, works fine.

One thing that took me a while to figure out was that Favourites and add/delete fucntions are related, and there is only a 16 image limit for internal favorites...

I had a niggle for a couple of days in that the device locked up on image playback repeatedly. Eventually I figured out this was because I had a folder with just folders in, no images. Obviously a bug in the firmware but hey. Just moving a pic or two in and it works a treat.

Im very happy with the product now I figured out why it was locking up. Curretly chewing through 1200 jpgs, should take a while. Would recommend as great value and functionality, shame about the TFT manufacture quality.

Well worth it!.......2008-01-03

Excellent value for money.... lots of features and a 9" screen with mp3/4 player.

Wouldn't say the picture quality is 5 star, but certainly good enough in my opinion. And as a previous reviewer said, you might need to re-size some pictures, but it's easy enough to do(I used the "paint" program that all computers have)

The pictures certainly look good so I would recommend this product.

good buy.......2007-11-26

great frame.does everything i need.display good plenty of controls for picture quality.used with a xd card from fuji f30 camera.
good buy at the price offered.

i-Station 9 ipod radio alarm clock in black with remote control

Average customer rating:

one day fly
Great radio, pathetic clock !

i-Station 9 ipod radio alarm clock in black with remote control

Manufacturer: Logic3
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Clock Radios | Radios & DAB | Portable Sound & Vision | Categories | Electronics & Photo

Clock Radios | Radios & DAB | Portable Sound & Vision | Travel | uk-shops

ASIN: B000JS384I
Release Date: 2007-01-24

Customer Reviews:

one day fly.......2007-11-14

Bought this alarm clock for husband. After 2 days it died... No lights, no time,nothing... returned it 3th day.. Also the lights were toooo bright... Hello its an alarmclock!! Remote only works when you're up close.. Its a joke..
going to try the iluv..

Great radio, pathetic clock !.......2007-08-29

We are now on our second example and both lose time - not just the odd minute now and again but up to 15 minutes a day...not much use if you want to use it as designed as an alarm clock. Pity as everything else is fine - good sound, good sync with the ipod etc.

Average customer rating:

Norton Ghost V9
Does not work with XP ver 2
Norton mucks it up again
Norton Ghost 9.0 / Ghost 2005
A disk image and back-up tool in one - Excellent!

Norton Ghost 9.0

Manufacturer: Symantec
ProductGroup: Software
Binding: CD-ROM

Backup & Recovery | Security & Anti-virus | Categories | Software

All Symantec Software | Symantec | Substores | Software

Small Business Centre | Symantec | Substores | Software

Problem Solving | Symantec | Substores | Software

Microsoft Windows | Operating System (operating_system_browse-bin) | Refinements | Software

Accessories:

ASIN: B0002UE1L2
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Product Description

Symantec's Norton Ghost 9.0 provides advanced backup and recovery for your PC. Protect your data by making a backup of your hard drive's contents - without restarting Windows. Incremental backups save you time and disk space. You can even schedule backups

Customer Reviews:

Norton Ghost V9.......2007-06-28

Contrary to the Amazon Product Overview, this software does not work with Windows Me - at least the user handbook states this is the case. The handbook tells you, for Windows Me, to use the second, Ghost 2003, disk enclosed in the pack. I wished to backup by HD sporting Me. The 2003 disk worked well enough for this, but I paid for Ghost V9. The more detailed Amozon info on this product appears to give the correct info.

Lex Thomas

Does not work with XP ver 2.......2007-06-09

Crashed my system time and again. Had to do a total rebuild. DO NOT INSTALL.

Norton mucks it up again.......2005-10-08

Here we go again - another insidious Norton product that completely fails to do what it says it will.
So far I have used 6 brand new DVD-RW disks and still have no backup - it either wont work at all or it asks me to insert the same disks again and again only to keep rejecting them.
The booklet is as clear as mud and only tackles the obvious problems like "have you switched it on"
Total waste of money. DO NOT BUY

Norton Ghost 9.0 / Ghost 2005.......2005-07-18

I installed Ghost 9.0 on my new computer and all seemed fine, until I found that I could not turn my computer off. In fact after all the hardware inside had been pulled out checked and put back together, the computer would still not switch off. Only a complete re-build sorted it out. I re-installed Ghost 9.0 and the computer refused to switch off again, so I uninstalled Ghost 9.0 and the computer was fine again. It would appear from communication with both Symantec and my PC provider that there is a problem with Ghost 9.0 and XP, although there is a workaround. My PC provider recommended that I use the 2nd CD in the box which is Ghost 2005. This I did, and it works just fine. If you are an XP user and you do have a problem Ghost 9.0, contact Symantec and they will let you have the workaround, unless of course they have fixed it by now.

A disk image and back-up tool in one - Excellent!.......2005-04-13

I have 2 hard drives in my PC. One runs Windows. I keep backup images on the other.

I created a backup image of my main hard drive using the 'hot' image tool. Then I took a chance and deleted my Windows partition. Used the boot CD to restore the entire drive. Worked like a charm!

You can schedule the hot image to be done whenever you are not using your PC (4AM on sunday mornings in my case), so you don't have to wait for it be done during the time when you want to use your machine.

Also, Ghost now offers the ability to restore files and folder from the backup image. You can even browse the image file for the files you are looking for.

Product Description

Belkin FireWire cables support high-speed data transmissions of up to 800Mbps and are designed to exceed the latest IEEE 1394 specifications. They feature Signal Exact Twist technology to deliver you multimedia data in real-time error-free. Advantages Up to 800 Mbps Transfer Speed Molded-Strain Relief - bends easily for durability and fit Gold-Plated Copper Contacts - provide excellent conductivity Triple-Shielded Cable Signal Exact Twists Technology - minimizes cross talk ensures error-free data transmission

Average customer rating:

9 Pin D Type 1.8M Extension Cable

Manufacturer: Psylins
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Philips 9" High Resolution Wooden Digital Photo Frame (9FF2CWO/05)

Average customer rating:

Fantastic gift
Very pleased with this - but software is not as good as it should be!
What are you moaning about?
Philips 9" High Resolution Wooden Digital Photo Frame
Software does not work and frame electronics do not last

Philips 9" High Resolution Wooden Digital Photo Frame (9FF2CWO/05)

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Accessories:

ASIN: B000JLPMNA
Release Date: 2006-10-23

Product Description

9IN LCD DIGITAL PHOTOFRAME WOOD IN

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic gift.......2007-12-08

We bought this item as a gift for some friends moving abroad. It was really easy to upload pictures on to the frame and the quality was very good. Our friends were really pleased with the item and now we want one too!

Very pleased with this - but software is not as good as it should be!.......2007-12-02

I bought this frame having read all the reviews on Amazon. I agree with all other reviewers - the frame itself is very smart, and looks like a "proper" photo frame, rather than a plastic/cheap frame like many of the other digital frames do. It is good quality, and will look great in office or home, contemporary or traditional surroundings. No point spending money on a digital frame only to want to hide it - you won't with this one.

This frame has plenty of options for slide transitions. You can set it to turn on/ off when you want (eg off overnight or at weekends, you just set it as you would your central heating timer!), and the screen brightness is lovely - it really shows your pics off to great effect. It also has a rechargeable battery (haven't tried to see how long it lasts), and photos can be downloaded directly from PC, as well as via a range of memory cards.

The software supplied is adequate, but far from glitch-free. Whilst it is intuitively designed and works straight from the CD, the drag and drop function for getting pics from your PC folder to the frame seems to take a few attempts to work each time, ditto with the delete button. This is a shame, as it all looks so promising. However, with perseverence you can get there and if, like me, you are setting it up once and are unlikely to change it for 6 months, it does not really matter. I have got from opening the box to learning and loading 100 pics to the internal memory in a couple of hours (including umming and aghhing about which ones to choose!) - and next time it would probably only take 30 mins in total, now I know what to do.

After complaining about the software, it does have one clever feature which will be appreciated by all - it automatically re-sizes your images. So, my 5mb pics from a good digital camera are all put on at the correct resolution and only taking up c.120kb of space each. I have fitted a total of 104 pics on the internal memomey - plenty given that non-digital frames only have 1 picture each!

Finally, definitely go for this larger size frame. The viewing space is still only a bit larger than a classic 6x4" photo, and smaller than a 7x5" - I am really glad I went for the 9" as the 7" must be tiny (in fact, just measuring the screen, it is actually only 8.5" diagonal measurement!).

Still - all in all, I am delighted with this frame, and I am sure my husband (currently posted to Iraq) will be just as delighted to receive it - especially as I have gone through the pain of loading the pics!!

What are you moaning about?.......2007-10-05

It works. It works very well and looks good.

Easy to use and on board menus are entirely intuitive.

By far the best way is to drag 'n drop pics from PC onto a memory card and run from that. Saves moving the unit around.

If you cannot manage that and configure slideshow had better give up on these new fangled thigies

Philips 9" High Resolution Wooden Digital Photo Frame .......2007-10-03

Really pleased with this. The frame looks good and is reversible, but I have not yet tried this out.
It was boxed really carefully and the screen protected well. Only slight niggle is as mentioned above, that the brown frame has a small circular mark from the sticky protective paper film that goes over the screen - where they have left a bit to stick out so that you can pull off the protective film. You can't really tell, only in certain lights and when up really close.

Found it easy to use memory card and to load on pics from the pc - just chose the ones I wanted and they transfered onto the frame quickly.

Battery lasts well once charged up, takes 2 hrs to charge unless it is on and then takes 8 hrs ish.

Shows up the pics well, nice having them all backlit. Benefits well from larger shots particularly when you just want to watch the slideshow from a bit of a distance!

Just thinking about getting one for parents Christmas pressie now!!

Software does not work and frame electronics do not last.......2007-09-02

Great image--the only reason it gets more than one star--but I agree with others that the software simply does not work for photo transfer from PC to frame. The software looks like one should be able to manage, through the PC, all of the photos amongst the different memory sources on the photo frame. In actuality only the limited built-in frame memory is accessible. Moreover, I could not get photos to transfer properly from PC to built-in memory- they were corrupted when I tried to show them on the frame. Reading other reviews this is quite common. So the only way to manage lots of pictures on the frame is to place the images directly on a memory card, and then plug that into the frame, rather than use the supplied software.

A second disappointing aspect is that after a few months, the frame has started to occasionally default to the menu display, or turn off outside the set times. So I have little confidence in it lasting several years. I would not recommend this product until Philips fixes the software and improves the frame reliability.

Average customer rating:

More powerful than the average
Brilliant

Duracell Plus 9V x 2 Batteries

Manufacturer: Duracell
ProductGroup: Health and Beauty
Binding: Personal Care

Accessories:

Product Features:

9V, 2BP, 9V=MN1604=6LR61

ASIN: B00011PJDG
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Product Description

9V, 2BP, 9V=MN1604=6LR61

Customer Reviews:

More powerful than the average.......2007-09-01

I really have noticed that duracell 9 volt batteries last longer and provide more of a shock to my tounge than most 9 volt batteries. They are also hardwearing, not that this is particularly important for a battery, but there are some cheap ones that break basically from falling on the floor! These batteries managed to power a range of electrical appliances in my house, and that is all I`m asking of them. Let`s face it: batteries are basic, and with these ones perfection is almost there. The only reason I gave them 4 stars instead of 5 was because they are not rechargable - simple as that. Mind you, I wouldn`t spent too much effort trying to buy these online - most good convenience stores stock these, and deffinatley all hardwear shops, so if I were you, I would just get out there and get them by hand.

Brilliant.......2005-04-06

Duracell produced these to provide power to certain electrical goods. They provide power to certain electrical goods. Basically, you can't expect much more from a battery

CANON BJ CRG PGI-9 RED INK CART 1040B001

Average customer rating:

CANON BJ CRG PGI-9 RED INK CART 1040B001

Manufacturer: Centreprise Internatinal
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

? Suitable for the Canon professional PRO-9500 Pigment based ink printer? Photo yield: 1600 photos (approx.) - Colour Document? Photo yield: 740 photos (approx.) - Colour Photos

ASIN: B000QUWCLY
Release Date: 2007-10-15

Product Description

Technical DataConsumable / ColourRedTechnical DataHeader / Product LineCanon PGITechnical DataHeader / Model9RTechnical DataHeader / CompatibilityPCTechnical DataHeader / ManufacturerCanonTechnical DataHeader / Packaged Quantity1Technical DataMiscellaneous / Category of AccessoryPrinting consumablesTechnical DataConsumable / Consumable TypeInk tankTechnical DataGeneral / Consumable SubcategoryCartridgesTechnical DataGeneral / TechnologyInk-jetTechnical DataGeneral / Printer Consumable ClassConsumables and kits

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