Dig Recorder SPEECH2TEXT

The Short:

Pros:

Excellent voice recording quality.

Long battery life.

Easy to use interface.

Large capacity.

Cons:

Bundled software is somewhat lacking.

No lanyard included even though there is a spot for one on the housing.

The Long:

As a physician I've used a variety of dictation software and recording systems and so far this is my favorite. The Philips Voice Tracer is a small handheld voice recorder that works as advertised and does just what you would want it to do. The capacity is around 70 hours even at the highest recording quality and all data is stored in a MP3 format. You can dock the unit to your desktop with a micro USB cord (included) and transfer all the audio directly to your computer. Record, delete, menu, and index buttons are easy to push and give good feedback when pressed. The unit is light and is easily carried in the pocket of your pants or shirt without being bulky. Battery life is excellent and even with aggressive use I only change the battery about every 2 months or so. My favorite thing about the unit is the recording quality is top shelf. It picks up all the subtle nuances of your speech and reproduces them extremely accurately. There are ports to use an external microphone but I've never seen the need as the built in mic seems to be more than adequate. One downside is the bundled software with this device. I've used Dragon Naturally Speaking on and off since its introduction to the market and this version is a little "hogtied." While still a functional software package it does not allow you to edit the text using a standard mic once its been transcribed, your only option is to use the correction options when changing a transcription error. Also, the software will only transcribe from a dictated recording and you have to "upgrade" to the full version to use any other of the Dragon software capabilities. While annoying, this doesn't prevent you from using the unit in any way, it just limits the editing options available to you. If you are serious about using this software I would recommend going with the upgrade sometime down the road.

Also, some reviewers mentioned you have to "train" the software. Yes you do indeed have to read to the software so it will learn your voice and transcribe correctly but this is always a given with transcription software. Those customers who expect a software to automatically know how they speak and pronounce every consonant and vowel need to think about what they are expecting their this technology to do for them. Training the software really doesn't take that long and I was running at a better than a 90% accuracy within just a few hours of use (and that's coming from a mumbler.) Furthermore, if you wish to use this to record meetings or group conversations don't expect it to be accurate at transcribing the audio as it's not going to be able to tell the difference between different speakers.

In all I am extremely happy with this device and I would easily buy one again if my current device met with an early demise.

I was so excited that this recorder claimed to transcribe voice to text, but was higly disappointed. To start with, you have to train "train your Dragon" to your voice by reading a lengthy text they provide w/ the software. I guess "training a Dragon" is only for fairy tales, since this one is not very good at recognizing people's voices for meetings, as there're different people speaking consecutively, if not simutaneously (not to mention background noise from people shuffling around). Perhaps it would work best if you are in a quiet environment and speak very slowly and clearly.

Now, the recorder is reaaallly good!!! If it was just the recorder, I'd give it a 5 star, but "Dragon drags it down"

GREAT RECORDER; CRAPPY DRAGON.

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The worst set of operating instructions i have ever seen, i downloaded the set off the internet and they still don't give enough information to operate the recorder.

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I find it unimaginable that a high-end digital recorder would come with no instructions--unimaginable. One is left simply trying to figure out this "intuitive recorder". I assume this is one of those cost saving features. The idea being that once you've been suckered into buying it, you'll have no choice but to scour the internet to find out how to work the damn thing; ergo, let's not "waste" money on a manual, let's just hope for the best.

I would strongly recommend you take a pass on this recorder unless you already know how it works or feel comfortable spending umpteen hours online with this "intuitive recorder" in your hands while you try to figure out how it works.

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I have wasted an entire day so far with this almost one hundred dollar piece ____ (you fill in the blank). And you can talk to anyone about their products EXCEPT electronics which they give you a black hole email address to send your problems to.

my WinXP pro system found drivers but even on their utterly BROKEN website (Philips) Obviously written by an 8 year old. there appear to be no utility package that goes with the current model only thing on the website is for 2009 models (this one LF0635) is 2011.

It comes with Dragon speaking from Nuance who on their recordings deny any complicity with a bundled package and promise to charge you for a phone service call and want to send you back to Philips. (or suggest you give them $199 from an upgrade to their 'real product).

The dragon speak tells me that I have too little room on my D: drive to install their garbage and brings up a chart of all the drives it found on the system but GEE IT WON'T LET ME PICK ANY DRIVE BUT D:

What a colossal bunch of amateur idiots Phillips is and what a bunch of con artists Nuance are. I'll NEVER by anything from either of them again and I'll do my level best to discourage the Federal Government from doing so (since I'm a Prime Contractor)

jccampb