Chinese Owner Manuals - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: mc1822
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2020, 06:37:13 pm
content: What I would like to see is someone write owners manuals for test gear that really knows English! For a beginner, trying to decipher a manual that comes with the equipment can be very frustrating! I would think that their would be a demand for something like that. Opinions?

author: HobGoblyn
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 13, 2020, 06:55:14 pm
content: Yep, I know what you mean.Here is a quote from my SMD hot air station, typed exactly like it is in the book including capitalisation and full stops or lack of (and repeated words).QuoteIn their defence, they do a better job than I ever would trying to translate to Chinese (or probably any other language). I think the only way to get over this is to have someone from say the UK or US etc, writing the manuals for them.I usually find watching YouTube reviews of similar products (a lot look to be the same factory made products with a different badge/brand on them) shows me exactly what my product can do, and more importantly they show me how to get it to do these things.

author: atmfjstc
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2020, 11:16:25 pm
content: Welp. You get what you pay for....

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 09:22:29 am
content: Honestly, they don’t give a crap.Several times over the last thirty years, I’ve offered to help rewrite technical and user manuals for what is otherwise ‘not bad’ equipment, after I’d figured out how it should be setup and operated without any help from the manuals.Only one reply in the 90’s... “Thanks, but we have a dedicated documentation team working on all our products.”. - but not as well phrased !The same issue exists if you try to offer design feedback... e.g “if you move this bolt left by 6mm, the case can be opened easily with a single tool”... sort of thing.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 10:33:14 am
content: Not only do they not give a rats ass, it demonstrates they are unprofessional and non courteous towards their customers,that's a universal business and culture FAIL in anyone's view.For example, Japanese multi-language manuals have always had perfect Chinese as well as the other languagesThey don't cheap out on it because they give half a rats ass, striving to be professional, courtesy is always appreciated,and all that helps to sell gear and repeat purchases from satisfied customers,who may just get loyal too.Less 'Support' issues/returned items=saved money, because the customer uses the item properly,due to not having to decipheror tosschenglish instructions which even the writers are unlikely to make sense of.Chenglish BS should no longer be tolerated in 2020,especially for devices which can yield fatal results via halfassed user instructions,assuming the halfassed assembled crap is bolted, wired and soldered properly to begin with..a rarity

author: sairfan1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 08:26:20 pm
content: You have choice, why not start buying Japanese, German (so on...) and get manuals in more than 25 languagesWe should not forget about it, at least they are helping us by providing extremely cheap price, they get very small profit as 90% of profit is taken by local trader or store,However its a very good thought, why not someone take initiative and build a website of manuals, or we keep posting our experience on forums/youtube and other places, by this we can have both good price and reasonable resources to understand product.

author: Kerlin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 09:17:18 pm
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on January 14, 2020, 10:33:14 amExactly why keep buying this rubbish, in a few years every one is going to curse you for it.Just because its cheap is not a good reason!!

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 09:41:30 pm
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on January 14, 2020, 10:33:14 amWell, I have a $100K pick and place machine, built by Yamaha and sold under the Philips brand. I have 3 generations of the manual for it.The first looks like it was translated word by word from Japanese to Dutch to English, and it quite horrible. I have one dated a year or twolater that is MUCH better, but still difficult to understand in places. Then, the third version was obviously a total rewrite from the ground upby a native English speaker who was intimately familiar with PC board assembly work. You can tell that the pictures in all 3 are identical with fewexceptions, but the text goes from ghastly to OK for tech-speak, to a REALLY WELL WRITTEN manual. I don't know how this even happened,but it was a good thing.I also have a Japanese (Toshiba) VFD on my lathe. I called the distributor for a manual, and when I gave him the model # he said "Gee, we don't selltoo many of those in the US. He sent the manual, and I could see why. It seems a cultural thing at least with Japan, they can never tell you HOW todo something, that would be condescending. So, they have to explain how the thing works, and let you figure out how to wire it up for commonapplications. So, while a VFD manual written by an English speaker would have diagrams showing the most common setups (controlled by pushbuttonswitches, controlled by PLC, etc. with some simple description, the Japanese-written manual has endless tables of connections and their functions,as directed by setup parameters in the software, and NO simple info on the most common setups and how to wire it. I've seen this enough to be prettysure this comes from some kind of cultural bias.Jon

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2020, 10:16:44 pm
content: Come on folks, no one is demanding literature masterpieces from TooHungLow Industries and their agents/sellers,just basic Chinese to English* translated 'User Instructions' that the customer has a hope to 'understand'*and or any other language/s where said items are to be exportedAll the Japanese and Taiwan gear over the years I've seen have good english manuals,WITH addendum sheets included for specifications, safety concerns or grammar corrections,so they don't have to waste money and time scrapping manuals and reprinting = fair enough@Apologists:Please stop making excuses for chenglish abuse by using the C word 'culture'It's simply slack manufacturing and business practice they've been getting away with for too long, period.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2020, 01:00:18 am
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on January 14, 2020, 10:16:44 pmIn the 1960s and early 70s most English manuals for Japanese products, even from some of the major brands, were no better than most English manuals for Chinese products are today. Some French companies still produce English manuals containing utter nonsense, and they are just 30km from a large pool of native English speakers.

author: austfox
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2020, 01:50:48 am
content: I believe that is how the Kogan company got started in Australia.The owner offered to re-write television manuals in ‘proper’ English in exchange for being able to import them in small quantities, but still receive a bulk discount. This is back in the time when LCD tvs were relatively expensive.