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    Is there free transcription software for PC like Mac?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Thundr, Jan 1, 2014.

  1. Thundr

    Thundr Notebook Evangelist

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    I like how on the Mac, there is a voice to text function where you can hit the fn key twice to start transcribing what you say. Is there a similar one for Windows too?
     
  2. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Windows has voice to text built into it. I'm using Windows 8 right now and you can configure it under control panel -> speech recognition.
     
  3. Thundr

    Thundr Notebook Evangelist

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    Thank you it doesnt' seem to work very well, at least with the internal mic of the laptop. Does it work well with a headphone?
     
  4. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It works pretty well with my Lenovo laptop, but if you aren't satisfied with your laptop's microphone, a dedicated microphone would definitely yield improvements. Depending on what you plan on using your transcription for, it might be worth it to invest in a nice USB microphone such as one made by Samson or Audio Technica. There are many others, just read some reviews and pick one based off of your needs.
     
  5. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    I can't answer your question, but my father (who is very relient on Siri on his iPhone) has been complaining about wanting to be able to dictate on his MBP as well. Thanks for this piece of info...I'll forward it on to him.
     
  6. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    there are numerous applications you can use. voice control/dictation has been around on windows since Windows 2000 Professional ( PRE XP ). if that is not up to your liking software like Dragon Dictate once setup is absolutely fantastic and is FAR above the dication software built into OSX. this is actually one field where Apple is just starting to get into more but is quite mature on the windows side as many developers have been setting up disabled controls ( text to speech, voice to text, voice recognition, voice control, movement control for mice etc for at least 20 years now ). my earliest experience with voice dictation/voice control was on an old 80386 machine circa 1990.. it was crude then for certain.