Customer Reviews

HGTV Home & Landscape Platinum Suite

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I purchased this product last March. There were some conflicting reviews, but I'm pretty computer savvy and have been using a coumputer since I was 5 (that's 27 years) and worked my way through college doing IT work. Thought I could figure it out. The software is gibberish. You may not need to know much about computers to use the design wizard, but you do need to know about technical details and construction terms. Despite trying to follow along with the manual I could never get it. It said it came with "thousands of sample home plans." It doesn't. You get 6. 6 Ugly ones. None of them are the pretty house on the cover which made me choose this software over the Better Homes version. You can go to the HGTV web site and VIEW thousands of plans but you can't download them into the program or at all. You can purchase hard copies of them for hundreds of dollars, but you didn't need to buy the software to do that.

Another reason I chose the HGTV version over BH&G is that it came with a 90 day money back promise. Before my 90 days was up I contacted the makers, NOVA Development to start the money back process. They emailed me back telling me to fill out a form, but didn't send it. I finally got the form and it was a destruction agreement. As per the directions I filled out the form, deleted the program, destroyed the CD's, signed that I destroyed everything, gave the box to my dog to play with and emailed the form back to them. A week later I get an email telling me i filled out the wrong form and they sent me a new one that said to return the CDs, packaging, and manual - "all incomplete returns will be destroyed and not processed" or something to that effect. My trash was empty. No more CD's. All I had left was the box which my dog wasn't so intrested in destroying, which I mailed to them with a letter explaining what had happened and copies of all the correspondence. It's now been over 4 months and I haven't seen my money back.

I work with AutoCAD and was looking for a simple program to help me lay out my summer home. This product did not seem very intuitive and I found myself referring to the primitive help section constantly. The software creator, Nova Development, does not provide any training videos or user forums as do other CAD/Home design developers, nor are there any user groups that cater to this software. That would be very helpful for the "how do I? questions and exchange projects.
I was able to get a reasonable (size and basic structure) facsimile of my cottage home in 4 hours, but the process seemed buggy, ie, trying to move an object and it simply wouldn't move. Perform a few other functions and voila! The object now moved! I've been working with computers (and programming) for 30 years and couldn't fathom the logic of what I did wrong (or right). Perhaps if I ploughed through the manual....
If you plan to buy this program and expect to create a room to redesign in a few hours, forget it. If you have the time to learn, and are serious about home design, you may want to look at a product that is recognized in the industry. I simply don't have the time or patience to "play" with this. I need serious results.

It is difficult to work with. I work with many solid modeling programs for work (although they cost ~$5,000), and this is very poor. For example, my master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling that only angles in one direction. I could only find out how to make a ceiling with two angles. I may be able to do it, but after an hour, I gave up.

Additionally, the graphics seem that they very poor. I saw programs with graphics like this in 2000.

Also, the seperate software for previewing colors from a real picture is very poor. You cannot just pick one wall color from the picture and have it changed, you have to lasso and carefully draw each border. Also, there is a limited amount of colors that correspond to paint samples from the store. If you want more colors, you can buy them for >$500!!! Although, you can make up your own colors.

I think the five-star reviews are from people representing HGTV or NovaDevelopement. Just look at the "# of # people found the following review helpful" for each review.

I've used many consumer home design software products. I think HGTV is similar, but inferior to most. I find it harder to use and less powerful. For example, I couldn't draw diagonal lines, nor would they "snap" together. For consumer home design software, I think you'd be happier with Punch! Software, Better Homes and Gardens, or free web-based software at [...].

Despite advertising "10,000+ home plans to get you started," you can ONLY look at them--unless you want to spend $800 to buy the construction blueprints! And I defy ANYONE to try to re-create any but the most basic homes using this software. I have been using computers, both PC and Mac, since they were invented, and I gave up in disgust after trying to re-create my colonial so I could visualize landscaping and interior decoration. And did I mention the software didn't work AT ALL on my nearly new Toshiba satellite 64 bit using Windows Vista Premium? "Incompatibility problems," according to tech support. Don't waste your money.

There is no video tutorials at all only help file, the good thing is the 3d model export option.
It is really nice software but I think you can find better out there with more video tutorials and easier!

It does not do as it is advertised. It is not so easy. To redesign a room, expect to know the dimensions of your whole house. It is designed to BUILD a house and begins with laying foundations, type of roofing, adding walls, doorways, etc. THEN it is only a RENDITION. It does NOT allow you to upload a picture and redesign it as it leads you to believe. Only the "paint" software that is included uses a photo, and then fills the color just as any other photo touch up program. The colors are not realistic. Lots of quirks. Then you can't get your money back!

I bought it as it lead me to believe I could upload a pic of my house and then use the landscaping tools. Not so. I can only impost a photo for the home paint/design, which I do not need. I have spent/wasted time ( and lots of frustration trying to make sense of the directions)trying to figure out how to draw out my entire house as there are no templates even resembling the layout of my home. I don't like it, would have liked to return it but is was long after 90 days when I gave up on it. This is the 2nd type software from Punch that promised quick and easy and no prior experience needed. Not true. I have to say I will stay away from their products in the future and I am sorry to see HGTV endorse this product.

I've had this product for a little over 7 months. Found a way to develop a plan for my house to use for looking at some remodeling ideas. I use computers all day and computer literate. This product is a big disappointment. Had the plan developed and got a notice from Nova that a free update to 2.0 was available. Thought maybe Nova was improving the software- wrong! Now I open my previously developed plan and everything is white, no material colors available. Wouldn't bother me if I could access some on-line product support and find a fix- forget it, does not exist. Really disappointed in the software and HGTV. Product support is non-existent for this product. Attempts to update the software when you open it get a "server busy error".

As with the HGTV Home & Remodeling program, reviews of this product seem to be critical of the amount of time it takes to learn the program. However, in my opinion, for non-professionals it is worth the time invested to have a workable model of your home. Plus, there are so many features to continue exploring for years to come!!

It did take me several hours to figure the software out, but once I got a feel for the program, it was pretty simple and fun.

We are planning a large remodel to a portion of our home to accommodate an in law suite. This program allowed us to sketch up all the necessary details and see them for comparison, which has been invaluable. The landscape portions are even more exciting, as you can adjust for slope and placement. I can't wait to work on our patio and deck!

The help functions are very accessible and easy to use. With several hours of time logged, it started to become intuitive how to use the program, and that is without any previous CAD experience.

All in all, I would recommend this product if you are willing to put in the time to learn how to use it. It does take time, but it's worth the output for DIY home owners!