XC90 owners manuals.

[gaby]

Originally Posted by Clan

do you realise that the whole manual is available on the screen in the car ? That's the best place for it , always available ...

Not in our XC90, not while the car is being driven.

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by Clan

believe me books are still the best format , you try looking at wiring diagrams on a screen … quicker to find exactly what you want too in a book .

A large chart is the best way to look at a wiring diagram in my experience. Digital media is best for operating manuals because they are always with you, or can be, while carrying nothing extra. They mostly have links and shortcuts to navigate quickly and easily to the knowledge you are after and can be bookmarked in some cases. They can also be updated wirelessly to the latest knowledge with no or little user intervention.

I have the Volvo's manual on my Phone, on my tablet, accessible via app or Acrobat viewer, plus it is on the car's dash and takes zero room anywhere apart from the virtual.

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by gaby

Not in our XC90, not while the car is being driven.

The passenger can reference it on the go I assume. The driver should obviously only reference it while safely parked, whether it is printed or on the screen.

There is always the option to print the whole manual for those Luddites that will accept nothing but a printed version. I suggest printing double sided to save paper and bulk.

[gaby]

Originally Posted by Quacker

The passenger can reference it on the go I assume.

Well no, that's the problem. Of course the car can't know who wants to read the manual, but I found
it rather frustrating that my passenger could try to find something in the manual that we needed to
know about the navigation software. I knew it was safe, but the car didn't trust me!
Stupid computer on wheels

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by gaby

Well no, that's the problem. Of course the car can't know who wants to read the manual, but I found
it rather frustrating that my passenger could try to find something in the manual that we needed to
know about the navigation software. I knew it was safe, but the car didn't trust me!
Stupid computer on wheels

I thought that it was a possibility that the safety assessments would have stopped that, but had never tried it. Rather silly, but a lot of driver's do mad dangerous stuff.
Still, I assume that the driver wouldn't delve into a printed manual while driving either. At least I hope not. Not while I'm driving in the same county!

With the digital version available through the app and downloaded to your smartphone, you could always hand that to a passenger to read. Problem solved!

[chrisfr]

I have a downloaded e manual on my ipad. However it is not easy to find sections that are towards the end of the manual as you need to flick theough page by page. Many things appear on multiple pages With a book you can just turn to the page. Dont disregard thenpower of paper just yet. Both have a place in todays world, but you just need to have both options instead of volvo deciding for you. When you pay the best part of fifty k for a car, you would expect the manufacturer to give you a manual to use it and not just fob you off with a internet link. If they are worried about trees just use recycled paper!

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by chrisfr

I have a downloaded e manual on my ipad. However it is not easy to find sections that are towards the end of the manual as you need to flick theough page by page. Many things appear on multiple pages With a book you can just turn to the page. Dont disregard thenpower of paper just yet. Both have a place in todays world, but you just need to have both options instead of volvo deciding for you. When you pay the best part of fifty k for a car, you would expect the manufacturer to give you a manual to use it and not just fob you off with a internet link. If they are worried about trees just use recycled paper!

Each to their own of course, but I have a large cupboard full of operator’s manuals and am often wasting time finding the relevant manual for someone and ensuring it is replaced after referencing it. I wish they were all digital.

You do actually have the option of printing the digital version off on your own printer. I once did so for a camera’s advanced manual, on A4 double sided. It is a weighty tomb that is never convenient when I need it and I almost always end up using the phone or iPad version instead. It doesn't have the latest information post software updates to the device either, whereas digital cloud based versions do and the manual for Volvo on my devices often asks to be updated to the latest version for my car.

What annoys me with a few digital manuals is that just a few don’t have live shortcut links in the downloaded Acrobat files.

[GJB]

I have had manuals for all my Volvo's and find them beyond doubt so much easier to use as to printing it off why when a manual can be purchased so easily. I know it is not everyone's scene but just put your hand in your pocket and buy one or even convince the dealer to give you one as part of the deal.

[nu11eaf]

Reminds me of when I worked for ICI at the start of the computer age and we were told we would now have paperless offices as computers would remove the need for paper.

You would not believe the amount of printing paper everyone used, even up to when I retired 5 years ago, making back up files to put in filing cabinets, printing off emails (they were'nt emails at first but intranet communications, cant remember what they were called) etc as everyone wanted paper copies, they printed everything.

We used to go through a forrest of paper every week, by far more than before computers. Every office used to have a pile of boxes of reams of printing paper, and we had to have special Biffa bins for all the waste paper. Paperless office my foot.

[1monkey600]

Originally Posted by chrisfr

I have a downloaded e manual on my ipad. However it is not easy to find sections that are towards the end of the manual as you need to flick theough page by page. Many things appear on multiple pages With a book you can just turn to the page. Dont disregard thenpower of paper just yet. Both have a place in todays world, but you just need to have both options instead of volvo deciding for you. When you pay the best part of fifty k for a car, you would expect the manufacturer to give you a manual to use it and not just fob you off with a internet link. If they are worried about trees just use recycled paper!

You can download a pdf owners manual from support.volvocars.com - much better than the e-manual apps - which I really don't get on with, either.

I have literally hundreds of pdf manuals and catalogues on my ipad, for pretty much everything I have now, had in the past, or fancy getting in future. Much lighter than paper, easily transportable, backed up on icloud, and (almost) as satisfying as flicking through the real thing
On your ipad you can tap bottom of screen and you see multiple little pages appear in a line across the bottom. Tap towards the right hand end and you should find the index page. You can click on the item or page in the index (or anywhere else you see a page number) and it will take you straight to that page.