Philips Voice Tracer DVT2710 with Speech Recognition Software

I was unsure about buying this based upon reviews. It fitted my needs so I took a shot. Frankly, it works great. No problems installing software. It was slow but that could be from using a Surface 3 tablet with an older processor. It works and I have been using it daily now.Dragon software is amazing. It takes time and you need patience in learning how it functions best. It has to learn your speach patterns. Where your record also makes a difference, for instance recording on the device in the car is not the best environment due to noise. I prefer my office or home studio to record in.I gave it 5 stars due to it works as advertised, no issues. Over all I am very happy with the purchase and certainly recommend it.

Most of the 1-Stars are coming from those who want to blame Philips for their own lack of willingness to read the product description. One gives a 1-Star because s/he made a **assumed** it would work with Mac (note the gigantic font FOR WINDOWS on the pictured CD). And then customer service works with them to to see what they can do about getting the Mac version. No comment. These counterproductive "reviews" are far from uncommon on Amazon but I thought noteworthy, as the average is skewed b/c of them.Great sound; device has a quality feel to it (switches, connectors), nice locking On/Off switch and great software if you understand what you're getting -- this is NOT a version of Dragon where you can dictate documents, control Windows, and so on. It just transcribes what has been recorded from the device and/or other audio voice files. It is Recorder Edition (Ver. 13.00.000.526). The device is a great size for pocket use and has lots of controls and customizations (more on that later). You do need to dig a bit to get to the controls, though. The ergonomics are its weakest point (and why it's not 5-star). The unit's menu button seems to have been designed so that its users would enjoy the challenge of finding it. The word "MENU" is etched in the same color as the device, in about 4-point font, underneath the button with the folder icon. And then you need to know that it requires a "long press" to actually function as a menu button. Its primary duty is set for folder control: an absurd design decision. And you have to download the PDF guide; none is included (except a "getting started" guide that is totally useless unless you can't find the On/Off switch, no info that's crucial to actually using the device). Also, the micro-SD slot is welcome, along with a 3.5 mm mic input. The color LCD screen has decent enough resolution as is large relative to the device size. Dual microphone performance is excellent and finds typical placement at the top of the unit symmetric on the left and right sides. Overall a great device, just wish its human factors designers knew what they were doing and they would include at least enough of a guide to use the device without requiring a download.

As an author, I bought this digital recorder to conduct dozens of interviews for my book The Hippodrome Theatre First Fifty Years. It did the job very well. One thing to recommend it. was that it came with Dragon speech recognition software that could transcribe the recorded interviews into word processor documents.The recorder connects to a computer via a USB cable to download voice recordings (in mp3 format). This takes only seconds, then the recorder can be disconnected and the files transcribed via Dragon. The voice recognition, takes considerably longer, but you can walk away instead of typing your own transcription.Tips and caveats: The recorder is stereo and has two built-in microphones and a headphone jack. It would have been better if the jack were for an external mic instead.Dragon requires a voice profile for each different interviewee. This is generated by having the person read a 5 minute selection from a piece of writing Dragon already knows (there are numerous choices.) I used Alice in Wonderland, and had each interviewee read 3 pages aloud some time during our interview.My interviews ran from one to three hours. Rather than make one long recording, I created 20 to 30 short segments by starting and stopping the recorder during natural pauses in the interview. This is easy to do, requiring you only to press the stop and record buttons. The advantage is that you end up with smaller files for Dragon to process, and it is easier to find particular passages later while writing the book.Voice recognition isn't perfect, but recognition improves if you make corrections. I usually listened to and corrected the first few segments of each interview and had Dragon update the speaker's profile.Because each profile is for a given speaker, Dragon does not do as well with group interviews. So try to conduct individual interviews.I also use this recorder occasionally to dictate story ideas or passages of text for my fiction novels. Because Dragon has transcribed my voice more than others I've recorded, the recognition is measurably improved. However, unless one specifically includes commands like "period." and "new paragraph." Dragon's transcription is just one continuous page of text. While some authors dictate their novels with these commands to eliminate typing altogether, I find them disruptive to the flow of thought. So, for my novels, I limit my dictation to making a few notes.The recorder has a playback function which is quite clear, so you do not have to move files to the computer and transcribe them if you don't want to. I often just play a note to jog my memory.Finally, let me mention that the recorder runs on 2 AAA batteries, and can use rechargeable ones.

Took 2 days for the Philips Support Team to find out. The product key doesn't work with the download software and they cannot give you one that works. Total Time wasted: 3 hours of trying, so I am now allowed to bring this old version of Philips and Dragon so I get my refund. I did not know that I am working for these companies that deliver nonsense Products. That's not an honorable way. Good LUCK.