Online Car Manuals

So you can burn it to a CD as a WAV file - does it not let you transfer it to any medium (i.e. another folder on the hard disk, or another hard disk etc etc.) as WAV?

Either way, it defeats the point of copy protection really - just makes it a bit more inconvenient.

Yes it would, and there'd be oil and grime on all the carpet, doors and doorhandles between the garage and the computer. I'm not well organised enough to ever need 1 chapter or 1 section of a Haynes. I'm more of a "While I've got the glibshafts out, I might as well have a look at the Punani valve." sort of chap "Oh bother, I haven't printed out how to get the cover off, thats another trip to the computer."

Otherwise whats to stop people simply uploading them and providing access FOC? In fact the lack of availability of computerised Haynes manuals hasn't stopped people doing that at all! I'd still rather have a book.

Right thats it, you're in my notebook under "when the revolution comes..."

Pah! A book is for life. I haven't really found a properly "cheap" paper and printer combination for the home.

I don't necessarily want to edit it or condense it (although I found 2 places where my Haynes for my Carlton was just plain wrong). I might want to copy it/print it more than once or open it in a non-proprietory format, depending on the implementation of DRM this could be a royal pain in the arse.

I'm sure that any tracks available to buy would probably be easily found for free in MP3 format through other channels. Anyone totally determined to break the copyright protection would probably just download the songs for free in the first place instead of paying for them.

Douglas Payne ( snipped-for-privacy@cheerful.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Second User HP LaserJet off fleaBay, with new genuine toners off fleaBay.

I'm doing some research for a University Buisness Project on selling online Car Maintanance Manuals in chapters, and hoped anyone with a car could help by answering five quick questions?

- Your Age:

- Do you own a car maintanance manual (I.e. Haynes)? - Why / Why Not?

- Would you consider buying a chapters of Haynes manuals online, at a much lower price, for printing when you need to perform a certain task?

Yes, provided they were accurate and complete, which the Haynes manuals I've bought in recent years haven't been.

Plus, even for common cars, Haynes don't always do a manual (eg the MX5 and Honda CRV)

Brian

The message from Adrian contains these words:

I'll go with laser printers. Smashing things. If I want colour prints I use photobox.com

And it's a crappy 128kbit MP3, which is NOT CD quality. 256kbit comes close enough, but it's still compressed.

Downloadable music, as envisioned by the recond companies, is a pile of s**te.

It's not just Haynes. The Veloce manual for the Mazda MX-5 tells you how to remove the cam angle sensor (its O-ring oil seal starts leaking with age and, for 99p, should be replaced) but all the photos show it being done with the engine out! In reality, it's bang up against the firewall and the sensor won't come out of the engine compartment any which way. It does ease out far enough to change the O-ring though. Mazda dealers charge at least an hour's labour, I hear, which isn't much less time than it took me at home.

Actually there is a Haynes Miata/MX-5 manual available, but it's really for the American market. Most people prefer the Veloce manual, which is more comprehensive but just as error-prone.

The message from Zog The Undeniable contains these words:

Yeah, well, it's not like they're in it for the love of the music, is it.

Guy King wrote on Wed, 18 Jan 2006 13:34:31 GMT:

If it was a "per job" price, it might be worth it.

Decide to replace the timing belt, go to a website and download the "cambelt" section. Rather than the cambelt section then referring you to chapter 1 to remove the air filter, the spark plug leads, etc, if the references were automatically included in the e-book version so that you could read through the whole job in order, it would perhaps be BETTER than an Haynes manual.

I seem to spend lots of time flicking between pages in Haynes manuals trying to follow what's going on... A simple list of instructions all in order would be nice.

yes, loads.

data and insight into some of the trickier jobs.

it would have to be of far higher quality than the current crop of Haynes which in most cases makes a useful doorstop. many of the photos are of poor quality and there are often no photos of the bits you would like to see.

online, you would have to mean pdfs or similar. i would say no more than a pound a chapter, otherwise it would work out cheaper to buy the whole Haynes. nevertheless, the easy accessibility of an online manual is a good idea and purchase by the chapter is also a good idea.

as long as it is good quality and worth the price.

iTunes never has been good value, which is why illegal filesharing still thrives.

Why second user? Can pick up a new Brother or Samsung for around £60. I've used Brother HL-series at work for years now, virtually bomb-proof, even in a school environment.

If I want colour prints I use my colour laser (HP 2400 now under £150). For the rare occasions I need photo quality my old HP 940 does the job; but that's needed so rarely a cartridge will last me two years!

Go laser. I get at least 7000 sheets from the £35 toner cartridge in my Brother.

Chris Bolus ( snipped-for-privacy@FARINAb0lus.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Because new *proper* LaserJets (4000-series) are hideously expensive.

Yes, I've used Brothers and Samsungs and £60 lasers at customer sites, too. That's why I'll stick with my £50 fleaBay LJ5N, ta.

The message from Chris Bolus contains these words:

They're excellent but I hope they've improved the network drivers. When I used one it worked fine until you tried to do four-to-a-page remotely, which fell over badly.