manuals, quickstart and more elaborate manuals, in a gazillion languages
spare parts,
customizing parts,
guarantee leaflets,
extra software you might never use,
cases to keep it in…
information leaflets suggesting stuff you could do more with your gadgets
invitations to go online and talk about the appliance in some way.
coupons for related or future purchases
Which one of these you keep and which ones you chuck right after you got the thing working?
And how do you store it? Keep the box, with everything, and where and how long? separate paper and electronics and store separately? Toss it in the heap?
I’ve got a drawer for powercharging thingies but it gets hard to find anything in there and nothing gets thrown out, even long after the gadget itself gave up.
Packaging, manuals, guarantee, information/suggestions, invitations and coupons all get tossed. I have no use for the packaging. The manuals only stick around if it’s something complicated or that I’m unfamiliar with and I may have to refer back to them, besides that can mostly be found online. Guarantee gets tossed out, usually without even looking at it. If I have a problem, I’ll check their website and go from there. Information, suggestions, coupons, again not interested. I might give them a quick glance, but that’s all little more than advertising.
The software I generally stick in a cabinet somewhere. I figure if I need it, it’s there. If the next time I even remember that I have it is when I see it in the cabinet a few years later, I’ll toss it then. Besides, it’s likely available on their website.
Spare parts/customizing parts etc, that’s going to depend on what exactly we’re taking about. But over the past few years I’ve found the best way to deal with all the little things that come with electronics, assuming I want to keep them and will need to go back to them, is those little organizing cases that you can get pretty much anywhere. The ones like this. Depending on what store you’re at, they can be just a dollar or two (and worth little more than that) or twenty to thirty dollars. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, many of them are easily customizable and if you have multiples of the same one, they’ll often stack. I’ve got one of them for all the stuff I’m accumulating for my 3D printer. Two of them just for the itty bitty nuts and bolts that I use when assembling 3d printed stuff. I’ve got one for all the interchangeable stuff I use with my tig welder…and probably a dozen more of them for various other projects. I also have one or two that are filled with more general, but somehow related, stuff.
Also, when I started playing around with arduinos and breadboards, the amount of ‘stuff’ I had very quickly overwhelmed those organizers so I picked up one of the kinds that are filled with the little drawers, like this.
TLDR, throw away everything but the actual product, but all the little parts in parts organizers.
If you only use those for the product the came with (that is, you don’t keep them around for other projects), then keep them with the original item. When you get rid of the item, throw that out as well, you don’t need it anymore. I have several old routers/switches with the power cord wrapped around them. It’s a good way to somewhat limit the amount of them that I have. Somehow, I still have a tangled up pile of them.
I keep original packaging for about a week just in case it’s a lemon and has to be returned. Then toss the packaging.
Manuals, cables, accessories, etc.: Ziploc freezer bag. Clearly write, for example, “NIKON DSLR 2018” on the bag. Seal all the bits in the bag. Then the bag goes in the box of electronics parts in the closet, with all the other bags. So all the parts are in the same place, but they don’t get mixed up with each other.
ETA: Coupons, ads, etc. get tossed immediately, of course.
I tend to keep original boxes around, which packing material, to pack things in if I ever have to move. Given that the box is still around, the materials stay with it, and when I need them I know where to look.
For things I didn’t keep the box for (like my vacuum cleaner) I have a drawer I pile that stuff in, and then pretty much never look at it again.
My apartment is really small so I don’t have much storage space. Boxes go after a week or two once I know the product works, if I had more room, I’d wait a month or longer but I get sick of looking at it.
The manuals get kept for a year or so for major items, a lot less for smaller stuff.
I’ve got a bunch of old cables that I probably will toss during the next deep clean. I’m sure some of them go back to my old desktop or laptops I don’t own any longer.
Obviously, my attitude would be different in a larger place. But, even then, I wouldn’t be like my dad who I’m sure has manuals for 1970s TVs laying around
I keep the boxes of the expensive electronics i have bought. I still have a closet full of the stuff. I will have to go thru it this summer and get rid of about 70% of it. lol.
Ha, so everyone is in the same boat. Nice idea about The labeled ziplockbags. Next time I have my Tech gadget genius over, I’ll sit him at the table, gather the tech thingies I still use in frint of him, And ask him to sort through drawer with cords. He can probably tell me what can go and how to label the rest… as easy as I can do that with food or clothes.
I have a folder in my PC called “Manuals” that contains the literature for anything I buy. It’s much easier to look for and read the PDF file than to try to dredge up a paper manual. Usually, I’m only looking for something on one page. PDF manuals are available for just about everything, although the TV set I was considering buying last month only had an online HTML manual and no PDF version. That may be the wave of the future.
I’ve long thought there’s a niche market for someone to set up a side hustle as a cord/charger/gizmo identifier. Bring them that box of random electronics shit you’ve got in the back of the closet, and they know what’s obsolete and can tell you which cord goes to that one doohickey over there.
When I was packing for this last move, I’d have gladly paid for such a service. I can’t tell an ethernet cable from audio wire. (I am only faintly kidding.)
Second the PDF versions of manuals along with a PDF version of the receipt if not from Amazon. Software and drivers are usually outdated by the time they’re put in the box so toss em. Physical stuff gets bagged and tagged.