Getting Put Off

[DiesAL]

I have been waiting fro Trackmaster all year but having seen all the comments (most of them negative) I don't think I'll be buying it.

I had problems with HVR 1 and 2 and got fed up with all the downloads and messing about just to get it to work

and Trackmaster seems no different.

Is there even an instruction manual with it? Nowadays almost all the software programmes have 'online' guides which need to be downloaded/accessed separately. Why manufacturers can't produce a paper instruction manual

which you can have beside you to sort all these inevitable non user friendly software issues is beyond me.

It would seem that this product could be as useful as it's name suggests if there were proper instructions so that people could start using it

but maybe Hornby couldn't be bothered given all the emphasis they have put on the Railmaster software.

[LMSTim]

The guide for TrackMaster, as for RailMaster is on the CD in PDF format. Nowadays most software comes like this becuase it is very expensive to print a booklet and that would push up the price, especially on a package like TrackMaster, whose street price

is as little as £7, including VAT. If you think about it, that leaves a couple of pounds to make the thing becuase the dealers what their cut.

It would seem that most of the problems experienced are to do with having installed without admin rights and

then having to reinstall. At least this software offers automatic downloads unlike HVR, so updates are implemented and bugs are fixed more swifty. That has certainly happened with RailMaster.

[Augustus Caesar]

Just to add to LMSTim's comments... I had major issues (detailed elsewhere on this forum) getting this software to activate. Once I got the update manually and installed that everything went very smoothly. It is running very well and I have no real issues

with it.

As for manuals... as LMSTim says they are on the CD and of course they don't always help with immediate issues anyway. For one I rarely use manuals of any kind or software help (being a PC Techy both MS and Cisco trained) I find them a little

on the less informative side than they should be.

Most of the issues on here about this software can be solved by just having a look for the solutions offered to the issues raised. This is one of the best ways to learn about stuff and manuals don't

offer this kind of service.

Just a thought...

But don't be put off by all the negativity as I am sure some of the problems found have been sorted but sometimes folk don't post back to say so.

[DiesAL]

In the old days you got a product with a manual and very rarely had to look any further for assistance with how to use it.

Now with everything 'online' you spend as much time trying to find help and download extras just to make the products work.

Manufacturers are just cutting costs by making us, the consumer, seek help online. Just look at how many problems have been highlighted by users on this forum. If the problems are so easy to solve then why weren't they included in a manual with the product?

[poliss]

Bought a laptop before Xmas that didn't come with a manual, so it's not just Hornby.

[Augustus Caesar]

Manuals? personally I hate them. They are neither use nor ornament when they are supplied with your purchase. Yes, I do remember when they were at least good for some technical stuff and faults but then they became a simple 'well let's switch on and then

off and the rest is up to you'. Most of that is now on CD's or online and still mostly useless.

Hence the reason for forums like this. The good part of all this though is that even if only ONE user has a fault and reports it and then we get that same

fault we may be able to fix it ourselves. If we all had manuals there's no way a rare or lesser known fault would be sorted.

Remember the old days when a magazine for, say, a Spectrum computer would have hacks and fixes? Well, that was the only way

we could sort stuff then. Calls to a manufacturer would be a waste of time coz no-one would ever be be available to help. At least now we have the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves and as a group persuade the likes of Hornby to see to it that fixes are

implemented along the way... mostly!

I rarely use a manual even if supplied as experience tells one where problems are and thruogh that same experience how to sort it. Everyone has a different level technically though so the folks with more knowledge

or experience of different issues can help the newbies or lesser confident users.

So, all in all, why worry about manuals? Costs are kept low as stated without them... you need space on a shelf to store them... they can be battered and torn if used

constantly... small inquisistive kids can write all over them and tear them (not experienced personally - hurray)...

I do see their usefulness but I would rather have this modern way where we can all help each other pretty quickly and rather soundly.