Rhoda Colins has asked me about editing with Dragon Pro 9 so I've started this new discussion.
Rhoda,
Do you ever go on the NCRA website? I posted over there about editing with Dragon. I'll just do a quick copy and paste for you. If you want to read some comments about that post, do a search there for Dragon Pro 9 and it will pop up. Recently, Dorothy McGrath, another Eclipse reporter, has expressed interest in Dragon and may post in the future. Here's the NCRA paste:
Misty,
You asked me, "What is Dragon Pro 9 to edit with Eclipse?" Well, this is not the short answer, but it could be way longer!
At the end of September I purchased Dragon Professional 9 - "The world's first and foremost software product that recognizes and creates general text from normal speech," which allows me to create voice macros just like Eclipse's hyperkeys. They were extremely quick and easy to create. For example, if I want to insert an off-the-record discussion, I just say, "Read discussion." If I want to create an index, I say, "Index." I can turn off hyperkeys, move my cursor by voice to the correct spot, speak any word and have it appear. With Global Magic now I just say, "Choose 1," or "Choose 4," to select the correct word. The same with any conflict. To do a find and replace I say, "Find - somebody - replace - someone - enter." Instead of hitting Ctrl L, I say, "Find down."
My first step in editing a transcript is to perform a quick edit using only voice - scanning for untrans - "Scun," globaling - "Gee" if it's a one-stroke or "Two Stroke, Three Stroke," and resolving conflicts - "Conflict - Choose 1," before sending the job off to my scopist. When I proof it, I use a combination voice and keyboard - mainly voice, though. "Go to page 22 - line 4." If I don't want to use my scopist for a particular job, I have the ability to edit the entire job myself using voice alone.
Here's a comparison of different Dragon versions. The Pro is the only one that will let you create and perform the macros.
Http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/matrix/
Patrick Seeley of Advantage told me to purchase from SpeakingNaturally.com because they offer such good support. I paid $754.95 for the Pro - a huge investment for me, but well worth it!
If any steno reporter is dealing with body issues and would like to keep off the computer keyboard as much as possible, I highly recommend Dragon Pro 9. It's fantastic to use for surfing the Internet, dictating e-mails and forum posts as well.
Jenny - reporting since January 1978 - CRR taken and passed May 2007