Architectural Designs

Which is the better HOME DESIGN SOFTWARE -- BH&G's Home Designer Pro 7 or Punch! Architectural Series 5000?

Other software suggestions would be great... its just that these two makes seem to be most popular on the net. I would like to spend under $200 but it seems worth it to go up to the $500 range for ultimate value purposes. I want to design every aspect of a custom home with ease (no bugs or inconsistencies), be notified of costs, and have a choice of building products (i.e. sound barriers at walls or radiant barriers in attic). I am more concerned about material options than something that is visually stunning or has a million different wall paint colors from which to choose. Thank you.

Public Comments

1. There's not much praise for Punch 5000. Here's the general concensus amongst reviewers, "AS 5000 offers little additional features and remains problematic and seriously flawed, especially when designing any even slightly non-traditional constructions. Despite the wide array of poorly documented features and peculiar behaviors, you will be forced into making design compromises, even if you critically comb through all available instruction materials such as printed manuals, the program's electronic help and tutorial videos, and internet resources including the heavily advertised Punch University online video courses. I cannot recommend this software to any user. Entry level users are better served using any of the widely available cheap, low-end products to decide if house design/CAD is for them or not. Once you have made the decision to proceed with your own design and creation (and I would bet any money that this would only be the case for a small minority), Punch AS 5000 will quickly show its limitations to you, especially when any non-conventional designs are concerned. If you are planning a conventional design, then why purchase a high-end architectural CAD product in the first place? "