Mea Culpa

So my family is chiding me: “Open the directions to the new PVR… read the “read me first” document on that MP3 player and “don’t plug that thingamagig into the computer or stereo until you know what you are doing!

OK… I admit it. Sometimes, alright, most of the time, I am racing to open the packaging (even though that is a challenge too now) and powering up a device before reading the manual. And I often rely too much on customer or tech support to get me up and running…

But it’s not my fault because just about every marketing flier, advertising and package from Apple to Zune in the consumer electronics and home computing industry implies, or outright states, that “it’s simply plug and play.” Silly me, it’s my feeling that if it says so, it should be so. As it stands, I usually plug-in and pray….

Before my usual rant and rave about today’s and tomorrow’s hottest products, here are a few of my own mistakes to learn from:

I kept killing the battery in a new Microsoft 8 gig Zune. The damn thing kept going on in my pocket or briefcase. So I called Microsoft Zune tech support asking is there a way to lock it in “off mode?” I was told that, sadly, there wasn’t a way. But that was before I found the tiny lock button on the top…and even though tech support people don’t know there was a lock button, I should have looked at the tiny picture on the directions…

I wanted to add video storage space to my HD-TiVo and my other DVR because HD takes up so much memory. The on-screen TiVo directions said I needed to buy a mass storage hard drive and connect it to the TiVo. I assumed that any mass storage drive like those from Seagate/Maxtor that I already use for my computer storage would be suitable. But I’m stymied because, after my seventh reboot of TiVo, it still doesn’t recognize the hard drive. I sheepishly call tech support and, low and behold, TiVo only works with a hard to get Western Digital hard drive and only works with the very little used Esata cable.

So I try to use my PlayStation 3 with my two year old Sharp HD TV but never realized that PS3’s HDMI cable will not work even with an adapter for the Sharp DVI port. So I call Sony and Sharp and find out that in the latest upgrade to the directions that came with the PS3 install CD…only the older PlayStation 3 works with this Sharp DVI port (page 34)… and that came after buying and returning several P3’s.

So I eschew the traditional Symantec or McAfee anti virus anti spy ware for the cooler, newer easier better Webroot anti everything PC protection. I didn’t read or pay attention to the on-screen warning to click off password saves and erased my 34 different online passwords…

Ok, this one is a tie between not reading the manual and a terrible TYPO on a remote: I tried and tried and tried to use the picture-in-picture button on my Westinghouse Digital HDTV remote and missed part of the game…because on the second page of the guide it says that even though the remote says PIP this particular set doesn’t have it…

So in order to have any and all electronic products available when the power fails at my house I plug in the Duracell/Xantrex battery backup system that’s winning all the awards. Who would have thought that, after charging the back-up system, you must take out the AC power to get this backup system to work when the power fails? It’s on the last page of the directions…

Your directions and guide pages may be different. Please consult your own spouses, relatives and significant others to remind you to read the manuals you shouldn’t have to read or try to decipher the online guides of your respective manufacturer.

Bytes and pieces: My easiest to use products are lately the whole line (for each family member) of SanDisk MP3 players or flash drives… Samsung’s underrated smart phone… Cyberlink’s DVD editing suite… Microsoft’s Mac Office 08 (better than its Windows version)…and for all around mobile entertainment, the Archos 705 and 605 devices (well worth the extra bucks for their respective portable DVR add-on peripherals)… and for kids of all ages to digitize notes for business or homework Fly Fusion’s Pentop Computer. My hardest to use or most unreliable products or services: Motorola’s Smart phones and second generation Verizon phones…Apple’s Custom Extra Fee Support…Microsoft’s Zune Online and off line software… Cablevision’s voice over IP phone service…

What are your bad habits with tech? Talk about it in the E-Gear forums.