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TMaxxUK
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Having purchased both a Flextone III XL and a PPD XT Live, I was expecting there to be a substantial manual in the same style...

 

Disappointed isn't the word!

 

Anyone else suffered the same feeling?

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I think he means or hinting it would be nice to be supplied with the advanced guide in to box.

 

Manufacturers have gotten away from providing large printed manuals because the information get outdated rather quickly. The functionality can change quite a lot through the lifespan of a product. For example, for the HD500, the amp and cab deep editing parameter were added after the initial release, so the advanced guide has to be updated to reflect that.

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Manufacturers have gotten away from providing large printed manuals because the information get outdated rather quickly. The functionality can change quite a lot through the lifespan of a product. For example, for the HD500, the amp and cab deep editing parameter were added after the initial release, so the advanced guide has to be updated to reflect that.

Let's not kids ourselves...they've gotten away from printing manuals because paper costs money...making them available online is essentially cost-free.

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I think a lot of companies have gotten away from owner's manuals that get descriptive - regardless of paper/pdf or updated tech needing new manuals all the time. 

 

 

Even this new phone I just got. Big difference between the manual from my last phone, which was a big difference from the phone before that --- even though they were the from the same company and all high end phones (at the time). 

I am trying to find stuff in the manual that just isn't there. I am looking at this button on my phone that simply is not listed anywhere in the manual.

Learning how to use the stuff and 'what does this and that do' is getting harder and harder. 

The only good thing is that Google and Youtube exist.  

 

 

Hey, I'd rather get it from the source, but as long as I can find trustworthy source, I don't mind getting it elsewhere. 

The problem is the thousand bad results that you have to sort through before you find one that you like. 

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I much prefer pdf's to printed manuals.  For my items that come with paper manuals; I usually toss it once I've downloaded a pdf.

 

I don't really like to waste lots of paper and I like to have access to my manuals on my laptop, tablet and phone.

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I'm a bit disappointed in Line 6 with the online manuals. They need to update it for the new 2.6 update and for the the new model packs......

 

It's been four days! Tough crowd here recently... :)

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how small of a team does line 6 have working on the pod HD project 1 ? its not about being tough wtf ? it should be part for the roll out ready .. if they want to appear professional about the product , 4 days past and still not manual update lol .. hmm im starting to think ....

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It's been four days! Tough crowd here recently... :)

 

I never complain about what we get but across the board for all manufacturers this one really ticks me off.  The manual updates should be integral part of every release or product ship.  Unfortunately it seems to be a hit or miss event some time after delivery for a lot of companies, not just Line 6...  If you are going to tout the release of a much anticipated product you should be prepared to fully document it at delivery...

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Having purchased both a Flextone III XL and a PPD XT Live, I was expecting there to be a substantial manual in the same style...

 

Disappointed isn't the word!

 

Anyone else suffered the same feeling?

 

My guess is that you mean the style in which those manuals were written...A little humor and a very nice flow...The old AX2 manual is one of my FAVs....

 

I think with more complexity comes drier reading...But I think it goes a long way towards a perception of stability to release the documentation in tandem with a product or update release...

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They don't have to wait until the FW is out to be working on the manuals.  There should be an update or addendum to the manuals that comes out when the FW update comes out.  We want to read about how the new features work - not have to guess.  The Global EQ is a perfect example of a feature that deserves a description of how to use it.

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Yeah - the orginal POD 2.0 manual was awesome - but that's not how it's done these days. I recently got the FX-100 and the manual was but a few pages.  Most products ship with little these days in the form of a manual.  But I realized that for all the amp model descriptions, etc, I could look at the X3 docs.  I too was a little disappointed with the online-only advanced guide for the HD500X, but some of what is lacking in the HD500X documentation can be augmented with the M13 documentation in regards to a detailed description of each effect parameter (the HD500X manual actually directs you to this info).   I expected the online manual to update along with the firmware, as I understood that to be the point of the online manual in the first place.  I guess we expect too much.  I'd LOVE a job at Line6 maintaining the manuals online - hint, hint --unless meambobbo wants the job, of course!

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I had to leave my car on the side of the road.. the manual didn't show where the gas cap is. My Strat that I paid 4 times the amount of my HD500x is no more in tune like it should've been when I bought it.... darn Fender...

Some things are oblivious to someone that has played for more than 2 months and has handled an IT device for the last 12 months. Stop nitpicking about details and learn how to play guitar.

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My guess is that making that deadline was more important than sqashing any bugs, rolling out X and non-X updates at the same time, sending accurate email notification, posting accurate facebook notification, providing release notes and adding an updated manual. Yeah, users could 'figure this out on their own' but I got caught up in the webpage loop trying to find info about the update (no release notes) and it kept leading me back to the HD home page. They have rolled out updates flawlessly in the past, but this one smacks of a rushing, skeleton crew that has more important things to do than roll this out correctly. 

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Just throwing this out there.  I thought I saw in one of the threads that the internal "official" release date was sometime in April, but that they they were on track for an end of March release...Digital_Igloo maybe.  Maybe they just wanted to get the FW out there for us (well not me quite yet, I have a 500 LOL) to use and enjoy, and are still working on the updates to the manual?

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the old Pilots Manual with the black cover and spiral bound was far better than the multi-language, flimsy POS that came with my new HD500X

 

not everyone wants to be stick at the PC reading a PDF... i like to have the manual at the side of me  plugged into the device with headphones on, in a different room to the computer!

 

it was nice to have a write up of all of the individual modelled amps, cabs and effects... an experience that was a big part of the whole pod thing!

 

i regularly used the manuals before... but this new onw, i don't even want to read it!

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Some things are oblivious to someone that has played for more than 2 months and has handled an IT device for the last 12 months. Stop nitpicking about details and learn how to play guitar.

 

I have often wondered the same thing --- if it is expected that we know certain things from previous devices. 

 

The problem with that, is that it encourages the 'iPod generation'. Buying every new device when it comes out. 

My last fx unit was bought 25 years ago. 

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not everyone wants to be stick at the PC reading a PDF... i like to have the manual at the side of me  plugged into the device with headphones on, in a different room to the computer!

 

 

I encourage companies to provide the PDF (whether on disc or a download), but I also encourage them to provide free of charge a paper manual upon request. Yes, that means they have to shell out $3 for shipping. In the long run, they will still be saving money by not having to print a manual for every unit sold. 

 

That way, not everyone is forced to use a pc against their will. 

Even the phone company will provide you with a phone book if you request one even though they stopped producing them. 

 

There is no reason to assume that every user of a product has 24/7 mobile pc/internet access. And as you said, even those who do have it do not want to always be trapped in front of one to look up their info. 

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I waited until I was at work (when no one was around!) and printed the entire manual. I screwed up by not setting it to print double sided, so now i have a 4 million page binder.

 

I too like to have the hard copy. I can fairly easily look up the PDF, but when I started sitting down to learn how to work the pod HD, for me it was easier having the book in front of me to  bounce back and forth through pages, put in bookmarks when the thing I was trying to learn was discussed in a few different spots in the manual, etc. Plus even when I wasn't playing around with it, I would have an issue that I couldn't quite figure out, so I'd take the binder with me when I was at work or whatever, so if I had some free time I could study it to see what options I'd have for when I got back home.

 

I know this makes me old school, but just the way i prefer. I'm not mad about not having the manual right away, although if I had to print it out at home using my own ink and paper, it might have given me a different attitude.

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