Customer Reviews

Punch! Home Design Architectural Series 4000

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

 

 

I bought this software to design a garage blueprint to be submitted to the local building inspection department hoping to get a permit to build this garage. It takes about 20 hours with many restarts to completly master the basics of this program enough be ready to print out an asthetically acceptable rendering, proportionatly drawn to the specifications just to find out that when the drawing is printed that the foundation can not be printed at all and that 25% of the drawing which is on the computer screen is to lightly printed to be seen with no options to make the program print bolder lines. Needless to say the county rejected my blueprints and sent me back to the drawing board. Now heres the kicker...I contact Punch to return the software within about 10 days of purchase and they send me an e-mail stating that it can not be returned. This is not the first punch program or designing program I have ever used, nor is it the worst I have ever used...but I think that the ad hype for this program is deceptive and that their tactic maybe illegal in the USA. This remains to be seen. My only hope is that you will read this review and make a better choice than I did.

Program does exceptionally well with roofs, but drawing walls is tough, unless you're satisfied with being "just close". Auto dimensioning is rounded to the nearest inch - just not good enough for most good drawings. Manual is nearly worthless and was clearly written with lots of cannon fodder and very little real information. Can't find a way to butt a 4" wall to the end of a 6" wall - program changes them all to 4" or 6". Can't draw a 8" foundation with 6" walls for the house - changes them too.

Attendant programs (tools) seem to be good, but lacks a lot of objects that would be usable (shttters, skylights, etc). You can, however, draw them yourself if you have the time and patience.

Very powerful program with lots of features, but no real text on what the heck is going on.

In general it's pretty good but very difficult to do things with any precision. Colors and graphics are good, so a drawing can be produced that conveys your intentions, but probably wouldn't be useable for real construction. Maybe with time I'll get better at this, but right now I'm struggling.

After reading the previous reviews and being an engineer, I can see why just about everyone wrote what they did. This program is very good at providing 3D versions of exterior/interior views of house plans as well as great renderings of landscaping including multitudes of trees, flowers, outdoor furniture, etc. This program is not, however a substitute for actual engineering/architectural house plans. It's just not accurate enough. It is not an engineering AutoCad type program.
I had previous versions of this software (Home Design AS18) and was therefore able to get this one at a good upgrade price. For the typical house owner, the full non-upgrade price for this program is probably not worth it. I use it as an addition to a CAD program to see (in virtual reality) what the proposed structure will look like as I walk around and through (virtually) the structure. The 3D views are quite impressive and realistic once you have the plans completed.
Once you realize what this program can and cannot do, then you shouldn't be disappointed.

We use this software in our luxury home building business for the initial design of new home plans. When we are ready to get into the finer details, I still do the final drawings in Autocad 2005. For quick and easy design concepts, nothing beats this program. We even use it when meeting with clients to sketch out ideas on the fly. There are valuable uses for both AS4000 and Autocad. Don't be deceived by the user-friendly interface. There is still a learning curve before being proficient at this software. It is no where near as hard as Autocad, but you won't be making full use of it's capabilities right away, either.
We can live without Architects, but not without Punch AS4000.

I am currently planning to build a new home and my wife and I wanted to draw out all of our ideas as we thought of them. This software does have a small learning curve but I found the Punch website forum to be extremly helpful and also the
http://www.punch-alternatives.com website to be helpful.

The software also comes with a bunch of tutorial videos that walk you through how to use each tool. I've been using it for about 2 months now and I think I have it figured out. At first I was a little discouraged but I love it now. I've been able to take all of my house ideas and transfer them to the computer and see them come to life in the 3D. Now I can present this to my architect and show him everything I want.

Very dissapointed! Don't buy this program if you intend to design a new home. There are many aspects that are sorely lacking, for the price you pay. You cannot draw footings! This is your starting point for a house. You can't draw interior basement walls.....it will kick you into the floor plan section thinking your drawing a interior wall! You can't install plumbing fixtures in the basement! Such as a water heater, shower, or a sink....it kicks you into the floor plan again.

This company should be sued under class action. "Home Design", I don't think so, If you intend to have a basement your screwed.

I read all the reviews, was thoroughly confused, and just decided to bite the bullet, buy the best home design software my local store offered, and hope for the best. Thankfully, I couldn't be happier! This program was easy to use - I never even opened the manual! There are lots of built-in help features to aid beginners (like myself) in using program. For those of us that are visually challenged (meaning we can't envision what the finished project will actually look like without a 3D image) this program was the best! I was able to "walk" around or "fly" above the outside of our new house and tour the inside in the 3D view which was very helpful to me because I could see whether or not I liked the layout, the window/door placement, the cabinets, etc. It also makes changes to the 3D view in real time, meaning that as I made changes to the floorplans they were immediately reflected in the 3D view I also had open on my screen! Cool!

Take a chance, buy this program, and get your project done. By the time you compare all the rest and read all the conflicting reviews you could be done with the planning and on to the building!

As a preface, I'm a 20-year computer professional, a PC hobbyist and a reasonably bright person. Except for this product I have NEVER had a problem picking up software and making it reasonable useful within a very short amount of time. I had the AS18 version for months and was more than frustrated by it but decided that perhaps a less limited version was needed so I upgraded to 4000. That was bad choice number 2; number 2 in more ways than one. If you use any of the power tools God help you to try to put everything on the same level, wall drawing, stairs, floor cutouts, everything. The wizards all seem to be traps that will make you find new curse words. The Room Wizard starts off great until you send it to your drawing. Walls, rooms, floors, doors are all at different elevations so you start the tedious process of getting the lawn out of your living room or hallway and then loads of other stuff gets all out of whack. I really have to wonder what is up with the good reviews of this product that are listed here. Tutorials and documentation are a pure waste of time as well. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me...

This is my second try with Punch this time buying the 4000 series which at the time was second from the top of the line. It has the same problems as all the rest of their products! It's incredibly slow!!!! My machines (fast ones <quad core>) all bogg down to almost a stop when it loads and every time you try to move something, sometimes I'll just go get coffee while I wait. It crash's constantly on Windows 7 and Vista even on XP Pro. If you're trying to build a house the contractor will have it built before you get the design completed. As for customer service THERE IS NONE! Thats right, when you buy this you'll never get help except from others online with the same problems and there are a lot of them! I've run several kinds of CAD ware and this is the worst. I'm looking for a real one now.
DON'T BUY

This is not the software you want if you need detailed or professional plans.

For general layout or landscaping it is "ok".

While it has support for details of foundation, piers and beams but lacks support for electrical and plumbing other then placement of basic fixtures.

The software has no support for importing or exporting any other drafting formats.