If you are buying a new desktop system, we strongly recommend a system faster than 1.5GHz, with at least 512MB RAM. Going much slower than that won't be economic over the long run, though the software will run OK for some special purposes or for patient people even down to the minimum 500MHz with 256MB RAM.
For professionals planning to dictate at least 15 minutes per day who are acquiring a new system, the choice is simple. Get almost the fastest system you can. In the short term, you might save a little money by buying a slower system, but you will have buyers remorse within a year. This is a productivity tool, and should be handled like other capital expenses.
The following two site has general information on hardware that is fairly reliable:
For a budget system, I suggest a Core2Duo Intel CPU or equivalent AMD dual-processor.
For a top-of-the line system, a faster Core2Duo Intel CPU will provide good performance, a quad-core system may provide even better performance though cooling and associated fan noise tends to be more of an issue with the quad-core systems. Though there is a price premium for the fastest CPU's, it is my opinion that the premium is justified if you are a professional dictating 30 minutes per day or more and you plan to keep the computer more than a year.
RAM and sound cards are critical to success. With Microsoft Vista, 2GB RAM is MINIMUM and 3-4GB RAM is not being extravagant. On systems of 2007-2008, the sound cards are more likely to be adequate than in previous years. With Windows-XP, 1GB may be sufficient for many users though the added expense for 2GB is often small ($50-$120 in most cases) and easily justified even for a tiny improvement in performance or reliability.
With the newer CPU's, heat dissipation is lowered, so fan noise isn't as much of an issue as before. Obtaining quiet power supplies and/or CPU fans to reduce both electrical and mechanical noise isn't mentioned much as it is now unneeded for the most part. But still, some systems are louder than others. Some say noise doesn't matter for speech recognition, but in my experience one gets slightly better accuracy with quiet systems than audibly loud systems.
Windows-XP Professional or Windows-XP Home will be offered in most cases only as an option. Vista is most commonly offered, but in many cases is still not the best solution. Vista SP1 will appear early 2008 and may solve enough audio problems to make it a stable platform for NaturallySpeaking.
Office-2007 is bundled with many systems. There are several versions of Office-2007 at different price points. They differ in the other applications. If you need Access, Publisher, PowerPoint, or Excel, make certain you get the right bundle. My opinion is that Word works better with NaturallySpeaking than other word processors.
Factor in the cost of Office and Windows when comparison shopping.
Several ask "what is the best system." That's tough to answer, but for a general top-of-the-line system today, the list should include:
Core2Duo 2+ GHz CPU's, 2+GB RDRAM, Windows-Vista Business or Ultimatel, Office-2007 (or 2003) Professional
Your needs may not be so demanding. But the above will run NaturallySpeaking well.
If upgrading a system, concentrate on adding RAM. RAM upgrades are usually simple to acquire and install.
If you can increase CPU speed by 40% or more without changing motherboards then a CPU upgrade may make sense. Anything less than that and it is hardly worthwhile. Often a motherboard upgrade is needed to significantly upgrade your CPU, and then you often need to upgrade RAM, and sometimes video, and by that time you may as well look for a new system.
Use the same CPU/RAM guidelines as above. Plan on buying a "USB Pod" if the on-board sound system isn't adequate for your needs, or alternately buy a USB microphone to use. The Tablet-PC's work OK though are generally available only in slower systems.
These PC's are characterized by having a stylus and generally being lighter in weight than notebook computers. They are intended to be carried around. Most of the designs are less than a year old. Most allow handwriting recognition and the functions of a touch-pad screen.
Tablet-PC's are interesting, but there are significant technical problems that aren't yet resolved. You will likely not be able to use BOTH NaturallySpeaking and handwriting recognition effectively due to these problems.
There is a higher risk associated with purchase of a Tablet PC. Buy them only if their better portability is truly important to you.
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