Rating: 
Summary: Punch! Suite takes some getting used to
Review: Punch!'s Suite is an old software package with many behaviors I found to be annoying. Punch seems more interested in adding features than in refining program behavior. And old software (such as the Suite product) is unlikely to be improved in the future.The user interface is quirky and inconsistent and the program pauses for long periods of time without any user feedback (they seem to not use the hour-glass cursor consistently). These pauses may be longer (and more annoying) due to the particular hardware configuration I was using, since hardware changes caused performance changes of a factor of 50 (see my review of their newer AS18 product for more details on this). Pauses also occur at times when they are not required (3D information is re-computed when you enter text on the blueprint, when the text will never appear in the 3D view). Punch! offers "free upgrades" from their web site, but if history is any indicator, there will be no more upgrades to the Suite product: Punch! is off working on their AS18 product now. The program is feature laden, and you can actually design a house with it, but the inconsistent user interface drove me crazy. Unfortunately, this IS the the best software out there at this price (in my humble opinion). === An email exchange with Punch! Tech Support has reveled that everything on the following list of annoying behaviors are "design decisions", so we cannot expect any of the following program behaviors to change: 3D values are re-computed (causing long delays) in many situations in which these calculations, and delays, are not necessary; Sometimes when you change floors, the 2D and 3D behavior of the program becomes confused, and the program is not sure on which floor it is working; The program moves the 2D (blueprint) around when the user has not requested it, forcing the user to manually re-position the blueprint back to where they were working; The hourglass cursor is rarely used when program delays occur, resulting in user confusion and erroneous multiple clicks; Some functions appear as active menu items but in fact cannot be used at all; Some functions appear as more than one menu item but provide the same function, which can be confusing; 36"x36" showers will not fit on a 38" wall; The program always asks you whether you want to save your design, even when you have made no changes, and even when the design is empty; The program does not remember printing preferences at all; Some standard objects (such as queen sized beds) are not the correct size; Some objects cannot be easily manipulated because they are hidden "behind" other objects, and there are no facilities for moving objects to the front or back;
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Summary: Support Cost
Review: Thanks for your inquiry. Our telephone technical support is free of charge for the first 60 days starting on the day of registration. Once the 60 day period is over technical support is 10.00 per call. Thanks for using Punch Software.
Rating: 
Summary: The most powerful, not the easiest
Review: The variation in ratings for this product is astounding. I was leery of some of the low ratings, so I bought Broderbund's 3D ARchitect and Landscape first, as well as Data Becker (trying to translate the occasional German was always amusing). Broderbund was easy, didn't need the manual, but the ease made it nearly impossible to customize to my building needs. I was very annoyed that even though Architect and Landscape are sold in a suite, Landscape is unable to import houses from Architect, so you have to redesign your house with limited tools to see it in the Landscape program. THe Landscape program went down periodically, and occasionally I had to reload the whole program. The encyclopedia and plant search function is great. Data Becker had the power to design the house, but only limited landscape tools in the house program. I had to read the manual to do it. If you want to landscape, you have to buy a separate landscape program, and again, redesign your house in the landscape program. The landscape program gets the same poor reviews the home design does, in part for intermittent messages in German, so I never tried it. Because, Punch Pro Platinum does it all, which to me justifies the price. Caveats - you need to read the manual, you need to access the punch website, and you should really access the user website at www.choosealternatives.com. The program initially would not give me the Live 3D walkthru - the user website advised in its discussions that I needed to change my XP computer to 800x600 display, and slow down the graphics card - once that was done, and I'd checked out the manual, it was cake. You can design your own furniture, customize your patterns to a degree, and download other people's furniture thru the user site. You have to work for it, but Punch really gives you results. On its own, the plant search function is lousy, but if you download the plant spreadsheet on the user site, you can find the plants you want and need. I do think Broderbund's plant care and info encyclopedia is superior, so I'm glad I have that part of the Broderbund suite. The Punch capability to add your own photos as background is AMAZING! I can add MY EXACT VIEW to each window, or take what's already there and layer on top of it so you don't have to design your neighbors yards, too. Also cool about Punch is if you buy a more limited program, you can upgrade on the company website. So if you think you only need Master Landscapeand later decide you want it all, you can upgrade that all the way up to Pro Platinum, rather than having to buy the separate whole Pro Platinum program. You can also upgrade the lower level programs to intermediate or complete, depending on your needs. But if you are willing to put in the effort, I'd buy the big one so you have it all available as your needs change. Again, with Punch you have to do the work and be patient, but if you are serious about doing house and garden plans on a computer, its the way to go. (My lot is flat, so I can't comment on the terain).
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Summary: awesome home design software
Review: this home sofware is great!!
a must buy
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Summary: I've tried and tried, and could NOT get it to do anything
Review: This software is a waste of money! BLECH! It doesn't even deserve 1 star -- it deserves 0 stars. If you ~MUST~ buy landscaping software, I SUPPOSE this MIGHT be okay. I found this software to be IMPOSSIBLE to use, ultimately getting nothing worthwhile or helpful out of it. What I felt was unabated frustration. It is definitely NOT user-friendly. My advise: Don't bother! ~ I really wish there was a Macintosh version of affordable landscaping software (hardscape, softscape, plantings) costing under $75 or less. There probably ~USED~ to be such software, but Microsoft killed off the maker, as usual.
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