The monitor

A few months ago, Elder Daughter bought Dad a new, flat screen monitor for his desktop computer as she thought he could do with a better and clearer image. When they got it home, hey presto, it was faulty and had to go back. The shop didn't have another in stock so she got her money back and bought one online instead. Unfortunately, it was delivered to her house in Sheffield instead of Dad's house in Bristol so it has taken until now to get it in the right location and it was down to me to set it up.
So far, so good, except that Dad needs the dimmest setting to suit his eyes.
On this monitor, there were about four choices, one setting for gaming, another for video-viewing etc and then an economy one, which, as it provided the dimmest setting of all, was the one I chose.
Fast forward to last evening, when I reminded Dad that he needed to try it out and make sure it suited him, which he went off to do, coming back fifteen minutes later to say that it was hurting his eyes.
Off I went into the dining room to see what I could do...
Two hours later, I was still fiddling about with it and getting increasingly exasperated. Dad backed rapidly out of the room, wearing his hard hat and left me to it, just after I had expressed a wish to hurl the thing out of the window.  Then Keith rang,
"Why didn't you ring me to help?" he asked when I explained my difficulty.
So, there followed a further half hour of me explaining the settings and menus available on the monitor and bemoaning the fact that, for some reason, I couldn't access the brightness and contrast options to change them and Keith flatly contradicting me and telling me that I MUST be able to, maybe I wasn't doing it properly. 
Unsurprisingly, we made no progress and I spent the night wondering how to break the news to Kathy that Granddad was not going to be able to use the monitor.
Up at the crack of dawn this morning, I spent a further hour doing battle and then, having run out of options, I decided to restore the default settings and, guess what! I was suddenly able to reset the brightness and contrast, It seems that option is not available if the monitor is on economy setting.
Of course, they didn't bother to mention that in the instructions.
Well, that would make it too easy, wouldn't it?

7 comments:

Shooting Parrots said...

What I find annoying is the poor quality of instructions/manuals that come with new kit. It is very basic and everything else is online.

I got myself a new printer in the sales and the instructions didn't even have word, just pictures. I tell a lie, there was one word -- 'Click!' tranlsated into five languages!

When it wouldn't work, I had to go online to be told that I had to go through the most complicated trouble-shooting routine. And this was Kodak.

Jennytc said...

This was the same, SP. A flimsy bit of paper saying nothing of any importance in 27 different languages and a CD which just had links to online instructions, such as they were.

Cro Magnon said...

A pity your dad's eyes don't do it by themselves.... such is life.

I wish you peace, Jennyta. Things can't have been easy for you, but I imagine that some sort of 'acceptance' comes in the end.

May 2012 be easier for you than the last few years. Bisou, Cro.

Jennytc said...

Thank you for that, Cro.

Joanne Noragon said...

When the first few words of the instruction manual tout the intuitivness of the process, I know they don't know instructions 101 and I'm going to wish them in hell before I'm done. Happy New Year.

Sage said...

Jennyta - Many thanks for an interesting blog, may there be many more posts in 2012. Wishing you and keith a happy and healthy new year xx

Jennytc said...

Very true, Joanne!
Thanks, Sage, you too.

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...