I don't know anywhere else - other than getting my hands on a dead-tree version - to access these parts manuals, and I have not been able to figure out a way to download them into a PDF or whatever file, so I have been stuck having to access these from there. Also, it seems that only version that works for me is in Chrome, and only using the Mobile version (although I guess I could try using Flash, but as every browser has deemed that being dangerous, I don't want to go there). The pages seem to load extremely slow for me.

#2 5 years ago

III

TreyBo69

Pinside member

5y 136K 8,431

I agree the digital manuals are unnecessarily obnoxious to deal with, but the mobile version works just fine for me on Chrome. The mobile version is better than the Flash version. The SEO version has never seemed to work.

Just give us the PDFs...

-4

#3 5 years ago

TOY

mario_1_up

Pinside member

Fairbank, IA

11y 80,800 2,350 24 8

I've never had an issues with using flash. kinda senseless complaining about something that's out there for free. You could always spend a few hundred dollars for the catalogs if it's that much of an inconvenience.

#4 5 years ago

ZAC

zacaj

RPC

Rochester, NY

11y 158K 10,385 85 122 1

Atrociously bad, I agree. They obviously have the full manuals, why bother with a fancy viewer that just annoys people?

#5 5 years ago

WAR

wayner

Pinside member

10y 95,300 2,583 25

Access can be frustrating but when I need them I am thankful they are there.

#6 5 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,333 268 14

Some catalogs are on pinwiki.

Quoted from TreyBo69:
The SEO version has never seemed to work.

That version isn't meant for human eyes...it's just for search engines to index.

Quoted from mario_1_up:
I've never had an issues with using flash. kinda senseless complaining about something that's out there for free. You could always spend a few hundred dollars for the catalogs if it's that much of an inconvenience.

Flash is in the process of being depreciated. It's often disabled in browsers by default now.

PDFs are much quicker to scroll through.

The flash reader is clunky, can't zoom in/out too well, and takes forever to go from page to page.

Some catalogs are very difficult to find in print form. It took me a few years to find a print copy of the bally 1981 parts catalog with the white cover. Not all catalogs are available as reprints.

Heck, try to find print copies of the williams blue, red, yellow, gray, and green catalogs. It's next to impossible, and they each go for $100-$200 *if* you can find them.

#7 5 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,938 24 7

When these were done it cost a lot of money to get them on line to help people. And they didn't want people printing the whole thing and selling them.

So it is what it is. Be glad there is access to them.

LTG : )

#8 5 years ago

???

PinballAir

Pinside member

11y 91,050 4,267 6

May be slow but I would be screwed without them.

#9 5 years ago

???

swampwiz

Pinside member

Bogalusa, LA

12y 32,300 770

Quoted from mario_1_up:
I've never had an issues with using flash. kinda senseless complaining about something that's out there for free. You could always spend a few hundred dollars for the catalogs if it's that much of an inconvenience.

Evidently, all the internet tech firms have a problem with it:

https://petapixel.com/2016/08/17/major-browsers-will-soon-block-flash-website-ready/

#10 5 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Ann Arbor, MI

12y 162K 48,039 19 30 1

OP
Quoted from swampwiz:
Evidently, all the internet tech firms have a problem with it:
https://petapixel.com/2016/08/17/major-browsers-will-soon-block-flash-website-ready/

Yeah...and that was in 2016!

#11 5 years ago

ROB

Rdoyle1978

Pinside member

7y 117K 18,137 14 6 1

OP
Quoted from swampwiz:
Evidently, all the internet tech firms have a problem with it:
https://petapixel.com/2016/08/17/major-browsers-will-soon-block-flash-website-ready/

It’s extremely costly for companies to keep the Flash player up to date, because it gets updated for security reasons all.the.time. Like weekly. It is full of super bad holes that constantly need fixing. Apple started the crusade to kill it back in 2008 (!!) because it also killed the iPhone battery super fast. Took 10 years and it’s still kinda hanging on. Hopefully that will be over soon...

#12 5 years ago

???

KenLayton

In Memoriam

Olympia, WA

12y 83,400 5,965

Yes it bugs me that those manuals are slow and clunky. Give me good old PDF files any day.

I'm glad I scanned all my hard copy Gottlieb parts catalogs into PDF files. It's easy to find Gottlieb parts that way.

#13 5 years ago

???

beadwindow

Pinside member

Portland, OR

12y 58,900 522 8

i'd have no problem paying a fee to be able to download the manuals.

1 week later

#14 5 years ago

XSV

xsvtoys

Pinside member

8y 103K 4,259

It is possible to download the pages. You could even combine them into a PDF.

#15 5 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,333 268 14

Quoted from xsvtoys:
It is possible to download the pages. You could even combine them into a PDF.

It's incredibly time consuming. Not worthwhile, IMHO. The full size pages aren't high enough resolution anyway.

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