Customer Reviews

Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 8.0 [OLD VERSION] [Download]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

i've owned this program for one week. i was initially concerned, as it did not come with a manual. well, after a week, i've found that a paper manual is not necessary to fully operate this program. i can not claim that i'm an expert after one week, but, i do re-assure you that this program is quite simple to operate, it offers possibilities that i never before imagined in my previous architecture program. this program is challenging, in that it offers so many options that i can spend hours looking through all of them. while $99 isn't cheap, especially compared to some of the other programs, i assure you that it is leaps ahead of my 3 year old 3D program. i haven't purchased other programs to know how it compares to other more recent products. i can say that it is phenomenal in comparison to three year old programs. i am very glad that i made this purchase and i would do it again, knowing what i know now, i might even pay more for it. it is likely to become one of my favorite toys. [after i've owned this program for a month or two, i'll submit an addendum so that you can read more of my findings.]

I have been an avid user/teacher of Chief Architect Inc software since 1995 (I mainly use Chief Architect X1 in my /drafting and design business) but the line of consumer software like Home Designer Suite 8 is a steal for anyone wanting to quickly play with Architectural ideas and scenarios. This program will not produce construction documents (blue prints) but is perfect for communicating ones creative ideas to building professionals.

David J. Potter

I've bought & tried other home design programs, but none of them came close to matching the functionality & usefulness of this one! I tried this before I bought it & can tell you that it's worth every penny!

The first thing I did was to measure our current house & enter it into the program. It took a while because we have a lot of walls with different thicknesses, but everything matches! Then I designed how we would change the house if we were to stay in it. I could really make this place shine! I have all of the furniture we want to keep & others we want to buy in my design. Some pieces I had to "make", but other than substituting a walker for a Gazelle in the exercise room, it all looks pretty darn close to the real thing! I even included my husband's automotive repair garage & landscaped the entire yard!

But in the end, our current house doesn't include enough land for our liking, & hubby wants to retire from the automotive business, so we've decided to build. We haven't purchased land yet, so we can't finalize any house plans until we know more specifics (like differences in land elevations throughout the property). In the meantime, I've already created 20 unique house plans & a few kick-offs from these.

I love how I can put different furniture & color schemes into a room, then look at it all in "dollhouse" mode! I've done some walk-thrus to make recordings of walking through the entire house & around the yard, too. (Note that the recording can take a long time, so I usually design the path, press record, & go to bed!) You can set a camera to a certain point in your design, aim it, then see what the house would look like from that point. I've even been able to copy certain architectural elements from houses I lived in as a child & felt like I was there again!

There's a ton of customizing you can do as well. In addition to making your own furniture to form an "architectural block" (which I wish I could "group together" to save, but this isn't an option), you can put a photo on a wall using a picture already on your computer, scan the fabric of your furniture & use that, & export your dollhouse view, then crop it & use it as your wallpaper!

On the negative side, there are some things with a pretty good learning curve. I haven't gotten into the different land elevations, roofs can be tricky, cellars & multiple floors take a while to figure out, & all of the little tutorials should be grouped to allow you to run each as a lesson -- in the order best suited to learning the program, rather than have them listed alphabetically! I still haven't done all of them because of this. I'm really confused about the best way to learn the program because of this, & I'm sure there are things I should "know" at this point that I don't because I've done so much by trial & error! It would also be nice to be able to share custom work with other users -- making customized furniture in the form of architectural blocks, then uploading it to the BH&G's website for others to be abel to download. Maybe then I'd have a real Gazelle in my house design!

Overall, I love this program! I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to remodel or build. Even if you're buying house plans, I'd still get this program & enter the entire plans into the program. Then any time you wish to make a change to the house, whether it's changing your color scheme, buying new furniture, landscaping the yard (make sure you have the "suite" version that includes landscaping!), knocking out a wall, or putting on an addition, you can try it all out on the computer first!

I think this is the first 5 star review I've ever given. I am so impressed with this product, I believe it may be the best piece of software I've ever used.

I started with another program by IMSI that got me through a rough sketch of what I wanted for our new home. Bug after bug and limit after limit got me to give up after a few weeks. This program was highly recommended on Amazon, so I purchased it with moderate hope. Nearly everything was intuitive and easy to do. Most importantly, I have yet to find a bug anywhere. It simply does what I want it to do quickly.

Between the two programs (both similar in layout) it took me about a week to get pretty comfortable to do just about anything I wanted. I do learn applications quickly, but it is by no means a complicated thing to learn. That and the numerous videos make this a pretty nifty package for quick education.

The company also has a website (inside the help section is a link) that has answers to everything you could imagine - either through the online help, or via the forums.

Great product, and not too expensive.

Have just tried one structure - an outdoor pavilion. This product is definitely geared toward traditional applications. Try to do anything "outside the box" and you are in for a long session trying to find creative ways around standard commands and insertable, pre-developed architectural elements. If you have any CAD experience at all, it is frustrating to not be able to just create your plan from scratch. Cannot seem to save file to file type that is compatible with my plotter. Consider your options carefully before purchase.

I have not actually done a final design with this product yet, but have done some preliminary layouts. For the money I doubt that you will find a product that has close the usability and functionality. Like most design programs, it takes a bit of getting used to, I spent a couple of hours trying to get the grade for a driveway and surrounding ground correct. However I'm sure with more familiarity it would have taken no more than a few minutes.

The program does have some CAD capabilities, but that is certainly not its strength, I have used freeware more powerful for CAD work. But for interior and exterior architecting, being able to see what the finished design will look like (or at least some approximation) is invaluable.

This package is worth buying even if you are not sure if it is exactly what you want. You can always just use it for landscaping layouts (does a pretty good job at that).

I looked at several software programs and downloaded many free trials and none came close to the power and ease of use of the Home Designer Suite 8.0. A few of the products I tried before HDS were more expensive and they just didn't match up. After using the program for 30 days, I think it would be a bargain at twice the price!

Easy to use and handy as all get-out. If you're planning on building or adding-on, this is a must have for the beginning phases of your project.

I love home designer programs - I had one by Broderbund which I really liked because it was very easy to navigate and super user friendly. Unfortunately, when we got a new computer, the program did not work with Windows Vista; so, we had to find something new. We tried a home designer program by Punch and it was nearly impossible to lay out your home the way you want it and to navigate the program was also difficult. So after doing some research, we found that the creator of the Broderbund program we did have now works for the Better Homes and created the Better Home Designer Suite program. We bought it and after using it for just a short period of time... we LOVE it. Laying out the basic frame of the house is very easy; to include adding windows, doors, and cabinets. The only problem we faced was trying to navigate in the program to find all of the furniture, plumbing fixtures, etc. It wasn't hard once we figured it out; it was just in a different format than we were used to. What you can do with this program is amazing; the 3D camera views are stunning; and the amount of detail you can accomplish is mind bogling - you can put dishes on a counter top; place books into a book shelf; you can even design your own computer set up on a desk. It's Awesome; well worth the money.

I think this program beats any home design program out there. It is based on the old Home Architect program, and I have always thought it was the simplest, best program. Roof design is tricky, granted, but I think it is in any program. I give it a four because it is not perfect, but I highly recommend it.