Miles in front of the competition!

First off, I'll start by saying I have been researching the home designer
software titles for months. After exhaustively comparing specs, professional and
consumer reviews, I finally landed with Punch!'s new Home Design Platinum 8.0.
Platinum 8.0 is newly released, this version only has one upgrade - that's the
highest end Punch! product, AS4000. See, the NEW Punch! Professional Home Design
Platinum 8.0 is built on the same platform as AS4000 - very impressive to say
the least.

Make no mistake, Punch! Platinum 8.0 is very high-end and
makes a complete joke out of Better Homes and Gardens home design
software...well, the affordable version anyway. If you compare the specs on
Better Homes and Gardens 6.0 vs. Punch! Platinum 8.0 you will scratch your head
in disbelief at the higher price point on Better Homes and Gardens 6.0! [...]

There is little you cannot do with Punch! Platinum 8.0. The item library is
limited, but there are Punch! sites where you can download free user-made 3D
objects (very well done I might add). Or, use the built-in CAD creation tool and
create them yourself! Or, import a photo of an item. Something I found
exceptionally useful. Most if not all the name-brand appliance and home
furnishing outlets are online. Well, they normally have pictures of their
products. With Punch! Platinum 8.0, you can copy the product picture and import
it into your floor plan. How is this useful? Think about this...you design a
door, but it doesn't look exactly like the manufacturer's door. Create the door
using Punch! Platinum 8.0, then import the picture of the REAL door into the
floor plan and place it over your created door!!! Now your looking at a door
that looks REAL and will give you a better idea how the door will look with your
house! Do the same for cabinets, appliances, and other furnishings!

The
design tools are relatively easy to use, and the video tutorials help get your
through many functions. Just don't expect to be a pro overnight. I suggest
spending only a few hours on it initially, otherwise you can become overwhelmed
with frustration. Try building a small house initially with just the foundation,
exterior and interior walls. Get an idea of how it works. Then get into
designing your house or home addition. When you run into problems, there is a
whole network of experts on the Punch! Forums.

One major complaint...and
I'm not alone on this one. LiveView isn't all that great. It will take you hours
to get used to it's controls. Worse yet, you cannot change the viewing angle
when using walk-through mode. That's absurd! In other words, if you wanted to
look down a staircase, look up at your wonderful cathedral ceiling, you can't.
Hopefully, Punch! will release an update to fix this...it's a common complaint.


Well, this is already to long for anyone to read, but I'll end by saying
that Punch! Platinum 8.0 is definitely worth every penny! Better yet, they give
you a FREE 90-Day Satisfaction Return Guarantee!

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