I want to read all the manuals, but...

...my desktop isn’t convenient for me in my comfy chair (which is where I like to read).

I’ve thought about getting a Kindle™ or perhaps something similar, but for the price I could get a good used laptop from a pawnshop or Offer Up. A laptop isn’t nearly as portable nor as “cuddly” as a mid-sized E-reader, but a laptop or netbook/notebook can do much more than just provide a way of reading the various flight manuals in DCS.

What do you suggest? What do you use to read the manuals and/or other E-books? Printing them out is ideal, but pretty expensive, especially in color and bound.

Have you tried your phone?

I've printed all of mine out A5, bound, black and white; usually weighs in about £20 ( the A10-c was the most expensive ) and I think it's been well worth it, especially as it's been spread over several years. Plus I like having a shelf full of flight manuals and support material.

What do you suggest? What do you use to read the manuals and/or other E-books?

I use an iPad, a Kindle would do, but I already had one when I started on DCS so I used it to study flight manuals.

A couple of years ago I upgraded mine to an 12.9" iPad Pro (that I bought 2nd hand to not spend too much) for easier viewing, as many manuals use a quite small font size, and it has worked beautifully. It can hold a lot of e-books, that I can annotate at will, search, print specific pages over wifi (like Diagrams), I can have several books open at the same time and it will remember the page I was at, etc.

And I can use it for more than just reading, as it can browse the web, play music, watch movies, etc .. its almost as capable as a notebook while weighing just 1.4 pounds and its battery lasting 10 hours between charges.

I've got my manuals on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (A6 - 2006) that I got for 20 bucks with renewing my mobile phone contract. That thing is around 180€ ATM. Something in that range is great for some docs as well as for some internet stuff. And it has a 1920x1200 screen, plays YT in full HD fluently. I'm glad I got this.

I use an Android Archos 101B, great little tablet at just over €100, no phone function but it has good WiFi. Like Eldur's Galaxy it is 1920x1200 and is great for films with Amazon Prime, Netflix and YT.

I use the Kindle and Adobe Acrobat apps on it and keep my manuals on it, just downloaded Chuck's guide for the F-14 on to it to read.

I have an older Kindle too but it is cumbersome to use compared with the Android.

I also mainly use a tablet (Samsung Tab A) which is pretty convenient.

The only problem I can see is if you need to quickly turn to this-or-that page, then paper is easier...

I prefer tutorial videos. They can get more nuanced information across and typically in a shorter time. Once you get the general idea of a function/system, a reference sheet (hardcopy or pdf) is all you need.

Perhaps you enjoy reading the manuals then that's fine, it is interesting to do so, but remember you are playing a sim, so no need to read the manual like you would for a test. Some people get more fun out of DCS by doing what the task they are learning about. Which is the benefit of a simulator. Experimenting is part of the fun. Each to their own of course :)

I prefer tutorial videos...

I like Video tutorials too, but I also like to study the manuals .. I like to summarize the manual information myself, it gets imprinted on my memory on a more lasting and pure way than simply watching a video of someone demonstrating his own (biased) view on the subject.

I like to summarize the manual information myself, it gets imprinted on my memory on a more lasting and pure way...

This is why taking notes in school works so well. If you write it down, or type it down, it seems to imprint on the brain in a better way than just reading or listening will accomplish. When I was studying for my MSCE, many years ago, I had six books that were each about the size of the A-10C manual. If I hadn't written my own, condensed, version of the books I probably would never have passed the tests.

This is why taking notes in school works so well. If you write it down, or type it down, it seems to imprint on the brain in a better way than just reading or listening will accomplish. When I was studying for my MSCE, many years ago, I had six books that were each about the size of the A-10C manual. If I hadn't written my own, condensed, version of the books I probably would never have passed the tests.

That never worked for me... I need someone explaining things to me, showing how to do it and then watch me do it and jump in if I do something wrong. After that I can go read and take notes to get my own procedures, but it's always better to reapeat it just often enough instead and find out what works best instead of sticking to some checklists. So everyone is a different learner. And that's what I basically do in DCS - go watch some tutorials on the Tube, like Wags' ones, do it myself afterwards and if I want to know more that hasn't been explained in detail I'll go though the manpages. Works pretty well for me

Only issue I have with YouTube tutorials is sometimes the content creator doesn’t know what he/she is doing either, you gotta trust they’ve read the manuals lol

Most of the time they do, or they’ll edit, but I’ve seen a few with bad information.

Only issue I have with YouTube tutorials is sometimes the content creator doesn’t know what he/she is doing either ...

Correct, that's why I said that most YT tutorial have a somewhat biased view of what they intend to demonstrate .. so, in the end a good Manual is irreplaceable :)

... simply watching a video of someone demonstrating his own (biased) view on the subject.