Customer Reviews

Punch! Professional Home Design Suite

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

 

 

The 3d view is very limited, you can walk through but you can't tilt your viewing angle vertically. The objects are very basic and there isn't much of a selection. The "12 powerfull programs in 1" is rediculous. The plumbing "program" is just a few bathroom objects that you can place in your house. The electrical and HVAC are just like the plumbing. Autoframing is useless. If you decide to change something you can't drag a box around everything and update them all at once. Example: i wanted to change my wall hieght, i had to right click on every wall, select "wall properties" from the menu, and then highlight a box and change it. And i had to do that for every wall seperately. The lanscaping feature where it changines the plants to show how they will look in 5 years just scales up some flat images of the plants.

This program is difficult to understand. It is not easy to use. If you make a mistake it is not easy to correct it. I did not like it at all and am taking it back to Office Depot. I should have read other reviews before I got it.

Very, very limited. Decides arbitrarily to link walls together so that an interior wall becomes an exterior wall, and changing the interior back changes all the walls in the group. No way to break a wall once you've put a window or door in it unless you first remove the window or door. Selection of textures is very, very limited and there is no documented way to import more. Selection of objects the same--the 3d designer does allow new objects to be defined but compared to any kind of real 3-d CAD program, including the freeware version of Intellicad (no longer available alas), it's horribly weak, and no way to import from a real CAD program unless maybe you spring for one of the more expensive versions. No doorknobs. No way to specify where lights are located, at least none that I can find--there are lamp objects but they don't provide light, they just sit there.

It's a cheap program that acts like a cheap program.

The description on this AMAZON.com post says that the software is Mac compatible -- I work for Punch! Software and most assuredly can tell you that it is NOT compatible with Mac.

A couple of years ago I bought a similar product from Punch software and gave up on it after a few days of trying to figure out how to use it. (And I'm very technical and generally good with new software). I would not recommend this software unless you have hours to learn to use it properly.

Google recently released a FREE home design software. Much like other Google products, this one is very easy to use - although not as powerful as one you might purchase. Before buying, I strongly recommend you check out Google's offering. Visit sketchup.google.com to take a look.

In preparation to remodel our master bathroom, I thought it would be fun and interesting to find a software package that was simple but effecient. I was expecting this program to possibly ask for a few measurements and then piece my project together for me. Sadly, I was very wrong.

It offers above and beyond what I need. The software itself seems fabulous if you know how to use it right away, but unless you have experience with this type of program, or you are highly motivated to delve into the 200 plus page manual that comes with it, my suggestion would be to look for something a lot less technical.

Honestly, I'm just finishing up my fourth hour on it and I still haven't gotten anywhere.... except to Amazon.com, looking for a different program.

Application offers many features, however it must be studied to be used effectivily. Not for the impatient or get up and go user.