Rating: 
Summary: Try some other software
Review: I bought 3D Home Architect Pro 5.0 after seeing positive reviews. Oops, those were for earlier versions! Maybe those worked, but 5.0 doesn't. Nice features, but this program automatically closes itself on a regular basis, as others have reported. And not for lack of computer, this is on a 2.20gb P4 with 256 RAM and plenty of hard drive. Save your money and buy something else. I have Punch Home Design Pro Platinum now, which seems to have comparable features and at least lets me design something without crashing. I returned 3DHA 5.0 and got my money back, and you probably will too if you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Try some other software
Review: I bought 3D Home Architect Pro 5.0 after seeing positive reviews. Oops, those were for earlier versions! Maybe those worked, but 5.0 doesn't. Nice features, but this program automatically closes itself on a regular basis, as others have reported. And not for lack of computer, this is on a 2.20gb P4 with 256 RAM and plenty of hard drive. Save your money and buy something else. I have Punch Home Design Pro Platinum now, which seems to have comparable features and at least lets me design something without crashing. I returned 3DHA 5.0 and got my money back, and you probably will too if you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING - DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION - READ FIRST!!!
Review: I bought this version because I thought it would have an updated graphics engine and also you got 3D Home Landscape Designer v4.0 with it. Well neither is true. The other reviewers have already covered why the interface sucks so I will give you a different reason. The Landscape Designer that comes with Professional 5.0 is a "Special Edition". When I got it I thought: Oh, a special edition it must have more plants and objects with it. False! Here is what the readme file says after you buy the overpriced version:3D Home Landscape Designer SE 4.0 is a Special Edition version of 3D Home Landscape Designer 4.0. 3D Home Landscape Designer 4.0 contains the following additional features and content:
Features:
• Slope and Elevation Modeling
• Plant Editor (ability to create and add new plants, edit plant definitions, and download new plants)
• Encyclopedia of Plant Diseases and Cures
• Collection of 9500 plant photos in thumbnail and picture mode
• Plant Origin (click on a world map to learn your selected plant's region of origin)
• Print 3D Views
• Align Objects
• Group Objects
Content:
• 5500 additional plants
• 230 additional 3D Garden Objects
• 250 additional Plant Objects
• 15 additional Sample Plans Here is the best part: After buying thinking I was getting the two 3D Home products in one package with some special features included, I found out that to get these additional features for Landscape Designer I would have to "upgrade" and give Broderbund another *. I think that it should have said this somewhere on the box, and then I wouldn't have bought the combo and be disappointed twice! *as per review policy I didn't buy it through Amazon, and I wish that I would have visited this site before I wasted my money (THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO RETURN SOFTWARE). So heed this advice and buy v.4.0. I bought Broderbund's 3D Home v.4.0 instead of Punch's and Sierra's based on others reviews and I would still recommend it over the other ones that are out there currently. I think Broderbund made a big mistake in going in the direction they are. I just hope that they or someone else will bring back an updated cheap version of Art's "Chief Architect" to the market, or I win the lottery so I could afford to buy the real deal. I hope Broderbund will honor it's "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy as there will probably be a lot of disappointed people who buy this version based on the reputation the previous ones gave 3D Home as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Dissapointed
Review: I decided to upgrade from 3D Home Architect 3.0 to 3D Home Architect 5.0 Professional. The installation on to Windows XP-Home was simple and trouble-free. This product is not an upgrade. It looks a little like 3D Acrchitect, but that is where the similarity ends. Broderbund has chosen a new software engine from another software company to supply 5.0. Plans from earlier versions of 3D Home Architect are not upwards compatable. Many of the user friendly features from earlier versions are simply gone. Not replaced by more powerful tools; just simply gone. Examples are: Copying objects is now arduous. You cannot simply modify one window and copy it to adjacent walls. You have to create windows from scratch in the "catalog", then insert them. There is no longer a tool for referencing walls from other floors (locations). You can duplicate items from one floor to the next, but if going from the basement to the 1st floor, concrete walls will need to be changed, wall by wall and property by property. You can perform a great deal of manipulations of objects (dimensions, colors, surfaces), but trying to reposition and redimension objects is too time consuming. I bought this assuming the roof tool would have been upgraded. What I found was that all the lower level tools are now at a basic level and are missing the efficiency of the previous versions of 3D Home Architect. I am now going back to 3.0 and hoping I can find a version of 4.0 collecting dust on some store's shelf. Very dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the most user-unfriendly s/w I've ever used
Review: I expected more from a s/w marketed by Broderbund.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: I had used Version 3.0 for a while, and expected this to be an upgrade. No way; it's so full of bugs it's unusable. Some of the features would be great if they worked, but they don't. Forget it.
Rating:
Summary: What a Shame
Review: I have been a user of 3D Home Architect since its introduction making Drawings in our Business and for the most part pleased. I have used it for many Jobs about 150 Drawings. If these drawings can not be used in the Newer Versions, then Broderbund just lost a Customer.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and money
Review: I have been a user since the original version. This program is a poor attempt at what a true CAD program has to offer.Not to mention the software is full of ads and useless online yet required down loads. I own a new Dell with 512k and the latest video drivers and I cant open any 3D files. Wait for a compatibility patch or some other fix.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Do It!!
Review: I have had every previous version of Home Architect from Broderbond and have found them increasingly more usable and functional. This is a drastic exception. Since I know it's sometimes harder to learn software when you think you know how it's done (given I did own the previous versions) I gave this program a lot of time to train me. I have gotten where I can successfully build walls, insert windows, doors, furniture, fixtures, etc. I can look at all the views. I can modify objects and pretty well navigate the program. I can't seem to get a roof on the house but I give up. This version may come from a great CAD engine but something got lost in the translation downward. It is VERY VERY hard to use. It may be easier to learn for someone who's never used this sort of software before, but compared to 3D Home Architect 4.0, it's very user UN-friendly. I would recommend 3D Home Architect 4.0 to anyone!! Version 5.0, DON'T DO IT!! The 3D images are not as nice as 4.0's, the camera is much harder to use, 5.0 does not size rooms for you and it does not give you a total square footage for your home. As far as I got into it I believe you could become proficient at developing new objects if you wanted to take the time and I believe it would do a good job of costing your job. However, for the amateur or the one-time home designer designing for fun or for that one house, use 4.0 and be very happy. Don't put yourself through the misery of this version!!
Rating:
Summary: 3D Home Architect ...NOT!!!
Review: I have owned both versions 3.0 and 4.0 of 3D Home Architect and have been delighted at the CAD-like quality of this product line, especially compared to all the other shrink-wrapped Home Design S/W on the market (I've tried almost all of them). The 3.0 and 4.0 versions of 3DHA were based on the Chief Architect CAD engine from ART. Be aware that 5.0 IS NOT the same product. It is based on the Envisioneer CAD engine from CADSoft. It is not near the same quality as its predecessors. The performance is DREADFUL and it has crashed my Win2K Pro Toshiba 8100 about a half-dozen times in the first hour I have tried it out. If I were you I'd purchase version 4.0 for about [money] street price(this would be a fantastic bargain) and leave this ugly alone!
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