PBJ

[Nephasth]

I guess I'd rather just do the work myself for someone than loan them some tools and have them come back filthy/broken... That's a huge pet peeve of mine, getting something back not in the same condition it was loaned out.

[knave]

Perhaps it's because the repairs you do to an engine are more durable and less subject to idiocy than fixes to software.

But FWIW I still fix family and or friends stuff for free too...I just don't let myself get "volunteered" any more.

[lilshawn]

I just don't let myself get "voluntold" any more.

FTFY

[RandyT]

I usually build my own systems from parts to get the best bang for the dollar, and have had several family members ask me to help them with putting together a system.  So I would spend hours listening to what they wanted, doing research, finding the best prices, etc. and even offered to build it for them for free.  Every time, they ignored it and instead went to Sears or Best Buy and bought some crappy system with a low price point, and then complained about how it didn't do what they wanted it to, or they looked to me for help when they wanted to add some new gizmo that couldn't be added to that system.  Then there was a time I picked up a refurb unit for my sister at half the price of the same unit new.  She called me 4 years later when the hard drive crashed, and did her best to make me feel like I had somehow steered her wrong.  Gotta love it.

I used to be offended when they didn't consult with me about the purchase of their systems, but now I see it as a blessing.  Doesn't seem to help though.  A computer guy in the family is seen as a free, lifetime service contract.  

[knave]

Sometimes I would do the opposite and just build it. My father went through a string of cheap crap pre-fab computers. each time he thought he was getting a screaming deal on A PC for $300.  I got so tired of trying to fix them when they failed, and watching him throw away the money, I finally built him a PC for around $600 that lasted him 6 or 7 years. It was like pulling teeth though...My mom still has that PC and it works fine...though now a bit dated.

[knave]

That happens to me too...but I kinda give my mom a pass. I'm kinda hard on her if she doesn't try. So if she tries at least I always help out. She is getting better though, she can now sucessfuly switch inputs on the TV especially if I talk her through it over the phone.  Funny thing is...she's more than capable...just afraid of messing it up.

Fortunatly I can take turns with my brother, so dinner is worth it. 

[Donkbaca]

Get a logitech harmony remote, you can program it to set all that up for one button.  You want to watch a movie?  Hit the movie button, best 100 bucks you will ever spend, we got one for our inlaws, no more calls.

As for the PC stuff, ditch all the PC stuff and just get them Ipads. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

i had a Logitech harmony for years and I really loved it.  It is not always user friendly right off the bat. 

One IR command doesn't register and something gets off, and you can't even get a parent to use the help button that wizard's you through finding out what went wrong.  I'm happy to now run everything through a tivo remote and even that isn't automatically intuitive for everyone. 

I wish my mother would ask for tech support more.  Her computer is so gunked up I can't even stand to look at it's 15" monitor, but it keeps on ticking over. 

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, you set up the remote for them, and then they just push the "watch a dvd" button.  Then when they call that its not working, you just tell them to push the help button, works for me.

The ipad is built for these people.  Its perfect for light web surfing, reading and e-mail.  The facetime stuff is a bonus, and its pretty idiot proof. Just get a good case for when they drop it.

[ChadTower]

Right, because the obvious solution to "I can't learn how to use the things I have in my house, don't have enough money for it anyway, and invite you over under false pretenses" is "spend $350 on a remote control that they still won't be able to operate".   

Over the last year or two I refer them to my older son.  Once or twice being told how to use their setup by a 12 year old somehow convinces older folks that they don't feel like asking again. 

[Donkbaca]

"spend $350 on a remote control that they still won't be able to operate".

You obviously don't know what you are talking about.  The remotes can be found for under a hundred bucks, you can set it up for them in minutes and they are pretty idiot proof.

[ChadTower]

You obviously don't know what you are talking about. 

The ipad is built for these people. 

[Le Chuck]

I dunno, seems like a sense of entitlement to me.  I want to use this tech but I don't want to spend the time to learn to use it like everyone else because I'm XX years old.  That's a crap attitude.  If your parents are using it as an excuse to talk to you because they are lonely and miss you that I understand. 

My surviving grandfather is in his 90s and is still spry.  He's up on social media and has his own genealogy website forum he spends all his time on.  My parents are in their 70s and take the time to read the manuals for new gadgets so they can avoid the embarrassment of asking for help to program tivo.  Anybody who says they are too old to learn some "new fangled gadget" should make due with the old tech.  My father in law is in his 50s and refuses to learn how to use a computer, I refuse to help him fix it when he breaks it and now it sits unused.  I'm happy to teach but I am unwilling to enable willful ignorance. 

[Howard_Casto]

i had a Logitech harmony for years and I really loved it.  It is not always user friendly right off the bat. 

One IR command doesn't register and something gets off, and you can't even get a parent to use the help button that wizard's you through finding out what went wrong.  I'm happy to now run everything through a tivo remote and even that isn't automatically intuitive for everyone. 
 

+1  I spent 80 bucks on a logitech remote for my mom and even though I've NEVER been able to get it out of sync, she seems to do it every time.  The "help" wizard apparently doesn't exist either, because I get summoned regardless of the hour whenever the tv is on the wrong input or what have you. 

Seriously, this is 2012!  You would think by now that the usb ports on the back of all our tvs, blu-ray players, game consoles cable boxes and ect would allow us to interconnect all the the devices so that only one IR reciever is used for everything.

[Nephasth]

When I bought my last entertainment center, I was told that for an extra $150ish I could get a special device that would allow me to keep the doors shut and still operate my IR devices.  "Isn't that like a $5 circuit?"   

What doors?

[Donkbaca]

Seriously, this is 2012!  You would think by now that the usb ports on the back of all our tvs, blu-ray players, game consoles cable boxes and ect would allow us to interconnect all the the devices so that only one IR reciever is used for everything.

They do have this now.  The new devices are all HDMI+ethernet, and you can set it up so that one remote rules them all, no problem.  Our blu-ray, TV and receiver all "talk" to each other, and I can use the TV remote to control them all, no programming or IR code ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.  Cable boxes is what screw things up, but since we are cable-free, we don't have that problem anymore.  Its to the point where we don't even use the logitech remote we have. 

I love the logitech's have had 2 different models, and gave one to the inlaws, I've never had a problem with them at all.  I always tell my friends, "get one of these, they are idiot proof"  however, it seems that once again, this forum has proved me wrong.

[yotsuya]

I'm continuously shocked my wife consented to wire racks in the bedroom.

We don't need to know your kinks, bro.