[MV] MacSpeech Dictate and Minimum Specs

[Chuck Rogers]

Bill:

I have run MacSpeech Dictate successfully on an 1.83 GHz iMac with  
1.5GB of RAM, my wife's 2.0 GHz MacBook with 1GB of RAM, and my 2.17  
GHz 17" MacBook Pro with 2 GB of RAM. It works about the same on all  
of them. So MacSpeech is correct when they say "any Intel Mac."

As with any computer program, MacSpeech Dictate will run slightly  
better with more RAM and a faster processor. That is to say, with all  
things being equal, I will get very slightly better performance on my  
MacBook Pro over the other two machines. But we are talking about a  
couple of words per thousand difference here - very slight.

I'd like to draw your attention to the phrase "all things being equal"  
in the sentence above (and this will address your comment about  
overkill as well). If you have a lot of things going on at the same  
time on your computer, this will have some impact on accuracy and how  
fast the program can type. To this extent, the faster the processor  
and the more RAM you have, the less impact running a lot of stuff at  
the same time will have. So there really is no point at which there is  
overkill.

That having been said, my advice since I was a wee little consultant  
in the late eighties has always been that you should buy the most  
topped-out computer you can afford - the key being what you can  
afford. Faster computers with more RAM will serve you longer and  
become a better bargain in the long run. That doesn't mean you need to  
spend $10K on a tripped out MacPro, however. Your results with  
MacSpeech Dictate (or any other program) will not be so substantially  
greater that you will see that much benefit - unless you are doing  
high-end graphics, DTP, or video processing.

In general, buying the fastest Mac in the category in which you are  
looking (iMac, laptop, mini, or MacPro) just means it will be more  
time before that machine starts to noticeably feel slower to you as  
programs are revised to take advantage of faster processor speeds,  
more ram, and newer technologies as they become available.

Chuck Rogers

On Sep 16, 2008, at 8:43 AM, chesnutt at it.net.au wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Could anybody on the list who is using Dictate successfully let the
> rest of us know the specs of the machines they are using.  MacSpeech
> on their website just seem to say that any intel macintosh will do,
> but that is not really very helpful.  For instance, doe it run ok on
> a Mini or a MacBook?  And with how much RAM?  Would 1 gig cut it?
> Would 2 be better? Would 4 be better still?  At what point does "more
> is better" become overkill?  And likewise with the CPU  - will an
> iMac suffice, or would a multi-core MacPro really make a noticeable
> difference?
>
> TIA
>
> Bill Chesnutt
> Perth, Western Australia
>
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