Home Designer Suite

I, like others, was having difficulty getting this program to work on my HP. However, I moved it to my husbands Toshiba and it worked beautifully! So, I contacted CS and asked what the problem could be. I received an answer within 24 hours that it was probably an out of date video driver. I checked, and sure enough mine was dated 2014. AMD didnt make it easy for me to update, but I finally did, and now it works great! As far as the program goes, it works pretty well for my purposes, although the library could be a little more user friendly. Sometimes hard to find the piece youre looking for. But all in all, Im very pleased!

This software is very useful, a lot features and videos helps to learn to use!

Easy to use, easy to learn, shows the materials list, changes to design are easy, it is a fantastic program

Still learning my way through it

Great software. I used this program to remodel a family room. Im no engineer but I was able to layout an entire room and navigate through a 3D rendering in just a few hours. The program is relatively straight forward. By referring to the on-line tutorials I was able to add more specific features and personal details that brought the renderings to life. For the money, this psoftware includes a lot of powerful features. But if youre designing the transportation hub for a major city, this is not the program for you.

As the other reviews say, this software is difficult to learn and use. It is more cumbersome than many other softwares, but that is not the reason for the low score. They do offer many videos and step by step guides on how to use and once you get started learning it, it starts to flow easier. You just need more experience in home building to be able to use this. The reason for the lower review is that everything I read said you can install this software on multiple computers at once, which is true. But what they dont tell you until after you buy it, is that while you can INSTALL it, you can only activate it on one computer at a time. Every time you want to use it on another computer, you have to deactivate the key and activate it on the other computer. If you want to use the software on 2 computers without deactivating, you have to have another key, which will cost you another $100. But no where in their advertising does it say this.

Awesome ! I bought as I read it was addictive so I figured if it was addictive is was really good. I love this thing! It takes time to get used to how to use the tools and later floors with the correct dimension info. I learned a lot of basic construction just by playing with this software. I had an issue with the 3D functions and after a few chats with the tech support I learned my computers video card needed to be upgraded. The tech sent me a link to get the right upgrade for my computer - he went above and beyond software support and it works without any flaws now. Amazed by this software. Take the time to watch the tutorial videos on line and save often as you experiment with the tools.

Bought this to design our new house and quickly became addicted. It’s like the greatest video game ever created! I was familiar with Chief Architect so it was like riding a bike but some may find it to be not very user friendly.

I have been a designer for the better part of 20 years. I am versed in most major CAD based design programs and have had a successful career doing it. In order to simplify the purchase of materials for an addition we are doing, I decided to purchase this software as it is supposed to calculate needed materials. NOTHING is intuitive about this software. EVERYTHING works differently than you would expect. They dont offer any guides on this software, they are all in the Pro version. If I can explain it best, I would put it this way. In an attempt to simplify things for people that dont know what they are doing, they have tried to automate the entire process. In doing so, have taken away the ability to actually tell the software to do what you want. Roofs are a particular nightmare. When I have an existing structure, I dont want the program automatically changing things every time I click something. That building has been there for 200 years. I will try and get my money back, we will see what happens...

After my computer crash I ordered this new version of my 10year old previous Home Designer Suite. Surprised to find very little difference from the old one. Easy to use for on the spot designing, great features, and great value for the price. No complaints but hate the fact that you now have to click an icon to move the design. Great design program for quick, easy layouts.