Customer Reviews

Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(4)

 

 

First, I'd like to say that I think this software is a great value for the price. There are however, some requirements you should be aware of before you buy. These programs require TIME and PATIENCE. If you are doing a complete landscape, expect to invest many hours. I'm not talking months or anything, but until you get the hang of it, progress will be slow. If you are using the 3D program, you will have to take LOTS of measurements if you want realistic results. BUT, once you get a nice replica of your home and garden, it's fun to experiment with adding/removing features. More important than the time investment, be aware that due to the details in graphics, these programs may not be compatible with your computer. Please be sure your computer meets the "recommended" (different from 'minimum') system requirements. I will also include some info from the program's "README" page. ..."Matrox Millenium G400, ATI Rage chipsets & Voodoo3 3000 are known to have problems with 3d acceleration". And..."STB Velocity 128 video card does not work properly...at all" Please note that some of these problems may have been fixed with recent drivers. Also, the video acceleration feature can be disabled and this is a likely remedy for video problems. At any rate, I wanted to mention this just in case. If you have the requirements, I highly recommend you try this software. Some of my favorite features are the price trackers. These are great if you are on a budget. I am landscaping my backyard and found that some materials which are nearly equal in quality had significant price differences. I'm sure this will vary upon location, but it still gives a good ballpark figure. Also, you are not limited to outdoors. This program also enables you to redecorate indoors as well. I have completed my backyard and have started my guest bedroom! I think this is generally easy to use software that will give you lots of good ideas. Just follow the manuals and tutorials and you shouldn't have any problems. I am sure there will be negative reviews from people who will think the programs are too time consuming or not detailed enough. Please keep in mind, these are not CAD programs. They certainly could be used by professionals for basic landscape outlines. (the cost minus rebate) you will get your money's worth. And another bonus, if you try it and hate it, you can send it to the company and get your money back.

I bought this thinking that it was a snap to use easy WISYWIG and all around perfect tool for the average home user. Was I mistaken!! I agree with the previous post that you must have time and patience. If you're using this to get general ideas on your landscape and decks and you have the time to figure how use the software then this program is for you. I spent 4 hours just trying to figure out how the program worked and I still could not figure it our completely. Very frustrating.. One disappointing feature was that I require exact measurements with certain selection. (Property Boundary, House dimensions, and similar) Believe me when I say I needed to be accurate to the inch. However, it was only after I called Customer Support did I find out that this program does not allow calculations to exact measurements. The price with rebate and Customer support was fine, but not enough to tip the scales for a favorable rating.

Maybe Version 8 will be more user friendly.

First, some caveats:

* Sierra has discontinued development of this product. They have no plans to produce any future versions.

* Make sure your PC will support the software. And if yours satisfies only the minimum requirements, you'll have trouble building up a design with a lot of objects in it. It can be better to start with the house, slope, and property line, then copy your "basic" design and create the back, front, and side gardens (etc) separately.

* There is no way to export any portion of a design and then import it into another one, although it is possible to create certain types of objects and reuse them.

That said, I find the program useful for visualizing things like "where should we put some trees" and "can we create an attractive vegetable garden on the slope in the back yard? I found it frustrating while I was learning, but now I enjoy using it.

In addition to LandDesigner 3D, I enjoy using
* The Garden Encyclopedia -- I can search for plants that are low-maintenance, hardy in my zone, and grow to a certain size.
* The Ortho Problem Solver -- for identifying insects and diseases. I prefer other references (Rodale) for the solutions.

The following are somewhat interesting:
* Designer Garden Library -- would have been better if it were possible to export elements for input into my own designs.
* Landscaper Design Guide -- You really need to get some good books on these topics, though.
* Photo Garden Designer -- If you've already "built" your house in LandDesigner 3D, why bother with this?

I don't think much of:
* 3D Deck -- Frustrating and limiting.
* Personal Garden Planner -- What, I need ANOTHER calendar/organizer? Much easier to build a schedule in Excel or Outlook.

This program seems excellent based on the description of features. However, the program is extremely slow, has major glitches, and falls way short of expectations.

The major glitch that I ran into is that the 3D function doesn't work. The first time I used the program, I was able to view things in 3D. During the next several attempts, I was unable to view anything in 3D because IT DIDN'T EVEN SHOW UP IN THE PROGRAM!

I tried to return the product directly to the Manufacturer. They would not accept it back because I was a couple of days beyond their 90 day warranty. Don't waste your money on this product like I did. If you're looking for something like this, check out the Punch! Software titles.

Too many glitches and bugs to talk about. Their website was of no help and after waiting for phone tech support, (my nickel) for a half hour, they couldnt resolve any of the problems. They said they would give me my money back, but how about the three days I spent screwing around with this piece of trash?

One particular problem is that saving a file overwrites the old one without removing any of the deleted changes. The result is a uselss mess. Another is that for no apparent reason it does not choose to save some items, so when the file is brought back up all the work has to be done over again. Of course if you expect to print what you see on the screen you are dreaming.

Break out the graph paper and pencil. You will do the job in half the time. Take the money and buy some plants.

Even though the box says this product will work with Windows 2000, it does NOT. It locked up everytime we tried to draw our landscaping plan. Tech support was of no use whatsoever and eventually told us to send it back, which we did and 6 weeks later we have YET to get a refund.

I will never buy another product from Sierra Home again.

What a test of endurance to install the software. Firstly, you will have to go through the installation process for each of the seven modules althogh they ask the same questions and, for some reason, complain about screen resolutions that are above 640 x 480! When running the modules I have, several times, been issued a warning that the appropriate CD is not in the tray. This warning simply says that a certain folder (N:\DECK\DECK for example) is not available. There is no tie-up associating the required files to a CD number. Why not a simple "Please insert CD-3 in the drive"?

I've only used the software for a simple low level deck project where, from the rear of my house I wish to walk down stairs to the ground level deck. It doesn't seem to like adding stairs that go to the deck? I will experiment more.

The Land Designer portion of this software will not work at all on my computer. I have a new computer that well exceeds all of the system requirements. I'm running Windows XP on it. The program won't even open. I e-mailed customer service and the best they could do was tell me to clean the cd with water and then reinstall it!? Needless to say, that didn't work. The Photo Garden Designer portion worked fine, but that's not what I bought it for! Don't waste your time or money on this program.

I have had bad luck with the program so far,when I install a driveway or road on my design the program crashes.It is very difficult to contact the manufacturer for assistance I have e mailed them twice with my problem and have not heard back from them except for them confirming receiving my e mail.This program is tough to get use to but if I ever get the silly thing to work,I think it will be worth the money with the rebate.

I had version 6.0 of this software and tried upgrading to 7.0, hoping it would cure some of the problems. The program has great features (for the price)... like being able to pick from a large catalog of plants, see 2D and 3D versions of your layout, and watch your landscape project grow and change with time and seasons. But the software is buggy. Every time I tried placing a driveway on my lot, the program crashed. Worse yet, the original creator (Sierra software) no longer develops the software. The new vendor was very helpful and willing to support, but they provide no fixes. I ended up asking for a refund. Unfortunate.