The P4 and Athlon XP have additional multimedia extensions that "reportedly"
improve multimedia performance including speech recognition.  Processors are
cheap, so as long as you stay away from the "latest and greatest" you will
be well served.  Anything over 512 MB RAM is overkill and will likely go
unused by Windows 9x or 2000 (not sure about Win XP).  A SoundBlaster
Platinum Live card is good for watching DVD's in surround sound but will
offer NO advantage over the Live Value.  Both should offer good and
identical speech recognition performance.

--
Ramon Castillo, OTR, ATP
ATEC/Goodwill Industries of Orange County
200 North Fairview
Santa Ana, CA 92703
714-547-6301  ext.389
Fax  714-541-2387
http://www.ocgoodwill.org/atec <http://www.ocgoodwill.org/atec>



-----Original Message-----
From: Athol Gow [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2001 6:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Ideal System Requirements for Dragon



Hi Everyone,
Would anybody know where I could information on the ideal system
requirements for running Dragon Naturally Speaking. I know that the minimum
system requirements on available on the L&H website, but I am interested in
what hardware represents the best current balance between performance and
price. For instance: is a Pentium 4 microprocessor overkill; would a
Soundblaster Live Value card perform acceptably, or should you really go
with the Soundblaster Platinum Live card; is more than 500 MB's of memory
necessary, etc?
Look forward to any and all advice,
Athol Gow