Virtual Architect Home & Landscape Platinum Suite

It is not a bad program (not sure exactly which HGTV I bought, may have been Ultimate (computer no longer works)) but has a few quirks, like you can always see a shadow of the furniture and walls on the floor beneath, which drove me crazy. It also took awhile to figure things out that I think could have been made easier. But at least it has much more flexibility and detail then the Chief Architect Home design essentials which was a complete waste of my money. Guess you have to spend much more to get one that works well. I looked at sketch up and noticed it looks just like HGTVs, the icons and set up looks identical, but I have not tried sketch up at $695!

I am a computer savvy person. I usually master new programs with ease. I have spent hours using this program, and I still cannot easily create the 3D model I wanted of my home to assist with renovation ideas.

Real steep learning curve for me. Its ok but was not as powerful as I hoped. It does help in planning a project.

On January 4, 2014, as part of a home office design project, I bought and downloaded the Mac version of Novas Home design software (actually I paid for it twice as I unintentionally downloaded the PC version before getting the Mac version--I never installed the PC version as I couldnt). I successfully installed the Mac version, and I then spent the better part of that Saturday trying to use it. I had used Better Homes and Gardens kitchen design software for the PC a dozen years earlier and found it very satisfactory. The Nova software was clumsy and I simply couldnt get it to do what it was supposed to do. My opinion is that it is a poorly designed product. I called Nova and asked for their advertised refund on the two downloads (this was on the Monday after I had downloaded and attempted to use their product). After a long wait, a lady told me that she would e-mail me the paper work that I had to fill out to get my refund. Following their instructions carefully, I completely filled out their three-page refund request with all kinds of information, affirmed that I had deleted their software, and e-mailed the form to them on January 8. Despite my making repeated, polite telephone calls and sending several e-mails over the last four months, I never have received my refund!

As others have mentioned, this software is not intuitive nor easy to use. Strange things happen. My design suddenly whisks off the screen by itself. You can find it but after half a dozen times, it gets really old. My computer completely hung up several times with Vista and I had to run the program in XP compatibility mode. Which solved that problem but not others. Some items wont place properly on your layout. I spent well over an hour trying to figure out how to get my design to print bigger than about half an inch by one-quarter of an inch. And now Ive forgotten how I did it. And on and on it goes....definitely not fun.

I was hoping to use it to create a floorplan layout to scale for a kitchen and bath remodel. Maybe I just missed that feature. Havent had a lot of time to play around with it, so cannot properly evaluate.

DO NOT BUY FROM NOVA DEVELOPMENT - THEY SELL SOFTWARE THATS NOT COMPATIBLE AND ITS INCORRECTLY MARKED ON THE PACKAGING. AND THEY DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR ERROR.

Not usable!

I researched all the home design software on Amazon and mistakingly chose this one. The product works and really isnt difficult to use. It comes with a great users guide. It is more advanced so is not for someone looking for a basic program. The real disappointment with this program is the interior design portion. For having HGTV in its logo, youd think it offered great choices for design. However, the choices are minimal. This program has 100s of design options - not thousands. You can change the color and finish of furnishings, but not the style. There are almost no decorative accessories and you need to be creative in making a walk-in closet. One bonus is that you can download some additional elements and add to the program catalog.

Very hard to use and understand.