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Manuals Yay or Nay

Vanessa28

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What do you think of manuals? Do you use them when you install something or do you know what to do? Did you use them often in the past? I hardly use manuals. When it comes to programs for the pc the cd often tells me what to do and with TV's etc I figure it out most of the times. I do use them sometimes to check troubles.
So what about you?
 
Aww, I thought this was about videogame manuals and I was about to cherish days long past and whine about instruction booklets diminishing.

When I purchase a new product, I put the manual somewhere safe just in case I nee to reference it diving right in without reading a word.
 

Ventus

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I'm one of those "nostalgia" dudes, I crave on manuals and just love reading them even if I know what to do beforehand. I always use manuals even when it's a simple plug-and-play device, just to make sure I am doing everything as expected. I find that when I try to install things on my own, I typically mess things up which of course is a no-no.
 

Castle

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When it comes to video game manuals, I rarely refer to them since most everything they explain can be figured out in-game easily enough (and should, for that matter) but for some reason I just enjoy reading them, even if I don't need to learn that stuff from the manuals, I just like reading about the game mechanics and systems and stuff. It obviously appeals to the game designer in me.

For everything else, I don't refer to the manual unless I have too. Too much technical description and processes and stuff that wastes my time when trying to actually accomplish the task at hand.

Google makes for one great big manual for software though. I often Google for system processes just to figure out what they are (and whether or not I should turn em off)
 

*M i d n a*

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You know, a lot of the time when I buy stuff I know what I will have to do in order to install/assemble it, so it's probably 80% of the time that I don't use them, and 20% that I do, which would be when I really have no freaking idea what to do. XD :cool:
 

Austin

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I referred to my motherboard's manual often when constructing my PC because every motherboard is different, and I wanted to get a really good understanding of its layout and such before I attempted to install anything on it or plug anything into it. I still look at it from time to time just because if I'm curious about something, it's a lot easier to pop out the manual than to pop open the computer case. With other tech though, I don't usually need a manual as most of it is pretty obvious.

As for non-tech stuff, I'm not much of a manual person. If I'm trying to put something together, like a piece of furniture that requires assembly, I usually look at the manual briefly just to get a basic overview of how it's supposed to fit together, but I don't follow it religiously.
 

Sydney

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It really depends on what the manual is for. Sometimes I'll read them carefully, and other times I'll just toss them aside. They're useful to some extent, but other times I can manage without them.
 

misskitten

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My answer is only when necessary. Most things are intuitive enough to get without consulting a manual. If, however, things get a bit confusing, then I will check the manual to see if it can provide the answer.
 

Snow Queen

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Absolutely nay. They are no help at all! It's like they are written by monkeys! Best to just learn for yourself.
 

Dan

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It all depends now, a lot more hardware and software are user friendly nowadays that often you won't need to refer to the manual. I actually miss game manuals however, back when they actually gave you details about certain enemies and their weak points, not to mention backstory. Was always great to read them in the car ride home getting more and more hyped up towards ramming that cartridge/cd into the system. I will keep manuals for most hardware regardless if I read it or not, I like everything in a set.
 

Mudora

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If they are videogame manuals, then I actually take time to look at them. If they are manuals for things like building a cabinet , or setting up a new PC, I just toss them to the side. I always keep them for future reference though, just in case.
 

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