Customer Reviews

Bathrooms: A Sunset Design Guide: Inspiration + Expert Advice

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just bought the book. Selected this because it had the software, and I thought it would help visualize and communicate the ideas.

The software is horrible. I use Microstation and Autocad at work, so have some experience with design and drawing software. This is non-intuitive, and the documentation (Help files) is worthless. No tutorials, examples, or other guides seem to be available.

Fortunately I bought the book for the book contents and not for the software. This is the first house we are building and I wanted a few basic books to begin with for design and material ideas. The book fulfills these needs covering the basics from sinks, to cabinets, floors, lighting, etc. This is not a detailed book for plumbing or electrical. It focuses mostly on interior design and visual appeal with some pros/cons of different styles of bathroom fixtures and materials.

While it does have a few pages dedicated to layouts, there is absolutely no mention of the software except on the front cover and a blurb near the back for computer requirements. That's it. At first glance, I was impressed with the overall CAD-like features. However, after playing around with several features and browsing over the functionality, this is one of the buggiest software programs I've run across. The user interface will blink, go blank, move the mouse pointer, at every possible opportunity (just click the mouse and wala! the pointer jumps!). It is not intuitive and the cryptic "tool guides" are worthless. There are other quirks as well, such as clicking on an object does not select it (can't delete). The user must click, move the object and then delete it. Moving walls is a trick I've yet to learn but should be the simplest of features in the program.

I work with fairly sophisticated software, some with steep learning curves, but they are well worth the pain of learning because the user ultimately sees the power of the software and the limitless possibilities once learned. However, I can't say the same for this one. So far, my impression is even after taking the time to learn this program, I will still end up searching for something better--like one where when I click and point with my mouse it stays there until I move it, not the user interface of the software. I've been trying to avoid taking CAD because of cost and time, but the more I look the more it seems to be the cheapest, fastest way to go.

I give it 3 stars mainly because the book is just a notch above allot of the over-the-counter books for the average homeowner looking for ideas and a few general guidelines. The software is nothing more than a coaster to set your iced tea on.

well the book has alot of great ideas and info handy in planining a bathroom, however the inter(non)active DVD would freeze my computer everytime I try to install it, I'm hoping to hear back soon if there is a fix available.
thank you, dave

All I wanted from the software was to be able to draw the floor plan of the bathroom and see where and if everything fits. Think this program will do that? Think again...

The book is good, the software does not work! Agree with the previous reviewer, the software is only good for using as a coaster to set my drink on. Period. What a waste of my money!