Home Design Architectural Series 4000 Reviewer's Comments

Our number 1 ranked home design software and "TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award" winner is Home Design Architectural Series 4000 from Punch! Software. Home Design Architectural Series 4000 is the top of the line when it comes to software. It is fun and easy to use and comes with the widest variety of features we've seen-offering everything from basic tools for beginners to the most impressive set of advanced tools available today.

Feature set:  
Home Design Architectural Series 4000 is the most feature-rich program we reviewed and goes far beyond the typical home design program; Home Design Architectural Series 4000 offers several unique design tools that act like mini-programs within the software. These tools allow consumers the freedom to add as much detail to their home design as they can imagine. Some of these tools include: Elevation Editor, Cabinet Wizard, Fireplace Wizard, Deck Designer, Framing Editor, Roofing Wizard, Trim Designer and much more.

You can also fully landscape any yard using Series 4000, which incorporates the topography (hills, valleys and mounds) of your yard and offers one of the most extensive plant libraries available.

The program's impressive 3-D view lets you perform a walkthrough of the inside of your home or fly around of the outside of your home design. This feature gives you a lifelike, 3-D look at your design and allows you to make changes real time, which means you don't have to save and reopen your design every time you make a change.


Ease of use:  
Although Home Design Architectural Series 4000 has a plenty of potential, plan to spend time reading the 473 pages of the user manual. Once you've spent some time with it, Series 4000 becomes easier to use.

Because there are so many tools available with this program, we feel the average person will have to spend hours, if not days, learning everything there is to know about the program, but can master the basics rather quickly. Also, if you're not familiar with home design, this program will probably be a bit tougher to learn, although, in our opinion, very worth the time.

With a little practice, those with computer and basic home design experience will find Home Design Architectural Series 4000 extremely flexible and useful.


Home Design Architectural Series 4000 Screenshots. Click to Enlarge
       


Ease of installation/setup:  
We experienced no problems while installing Home Design Architectural Series 4000, but installation took several minutes to complete.


Help/Documentation:  
Punch! offers video tutorials with Home Design Architectural Series 4000, as well as contents and index searches built into the program. The 473-page user manual is well-written and informative.


Summary:
Home Design Architectural Series 4000 by Punch! Software is the most complete home design software available today. With a fun, easy-to-learn format, Series 4000 is perfect for the first-time home designer or the building contractor who wants to experiment with different home designs. No matter your home design needs, Home Design Architectural Series 4000 can make it happen.


A complete list of features and side-by-side comparisons are available on the Home Design Software HomePage.  


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