[TECH] ManualsOnline.com: Better Than that Drawer in the Kitchen

Like many other guys, when I buy a new gadget, appliance, or other product, I keep the instruction (or as my father used to call it: destruction) manual. Some of us guys will sit down and read through the manual first to learn everything there is to know about the product before using it. Others prefer the “trial-by-fire” technique and only reference the manual as a last resort. Regardless of which profile you fit into, you likely are not reading through them on a daily basis so they just end up taking up space and gathering dust in closets and drawers all over the house. You could throw them away, but the second you do, there invariably will be a crisis in which you will need to reference them. ManualsOnline.com is the solution to this stalemate.

The concept behind ManualsOnline.com is simple. It’s an online repository for all of your product manuals, from the A/V receiver to the Washer and Dryer. They presently contain an extensive library of over 300,000 product manuals from 5,000 different brands, and more being added daily.

After you create a free account, you can start compiling your library of manuals. ManualsOnline.com has you organize everything by Room, Category, Brand, Product Type, and Model. After entering this info, you are presented a list of available manuals matching your criteria and you pick the one that pertains to your product. Now it is permanently stored in your account which makes is incredibly easy to find in the future by simply logging into your account. One other great feature of ManualsOnline.com is the Community section. It’s there that you can ask questions, provide feedback, and read articles regarding your products.

So now it is time to start trashing (recycling) those old dusty manuals. And if you happen to come across one of yours that is not on the website (and you own a scanner), help the rest of us out by scanning and uploading it to the website so others can take advantage of your hoarding.

Image credit: Angi Navarro

Andrew Lloyd

Andrew Lloyd is a native of the suburbs of Rochester, NY where he obtained a Bachelors degree in Management Information Systems from RIT. Though currently residing in Lexington, KY, with his beautiful fiance’ and 3 dogs, Andrew is looking to relocate and start fresh after managing supply chain information systems projects with Toyota. Andrew dreams of being on the cast of Top Gear one day but until then, he can be found building and flying model aircraft, working on his Mustang, or tinkering with the latest electronic gadgets.