catalogues

[dannyr]

are they finished? - yes, I know you can see everything online, but for me there's something about reading through a paper catalogue - my favourite contemporary was the Dictum, also the Axminster and Lee Valley - usually learnt something too. And to the benefit of the company, they sometimes lead to an unnecessary purchase.

 

[Etaf]

i guess so , I used to read through the RS cat back around 1978 when working in an electronics design lab - cover to cover
cant remember the last time i looked at any cat recently, i guess screwfix & Toolstation , but dont do that know - ALL done online
and with the cat I would make/

lead to an unnecessary purchase.

I dont use the Apps - i just find they are not as good as just searching on thier website with a PC

 

[recipio]

I hope not. The Lee Valley catalogue was particularly good - a lot of knick knacks not seen un the UK. The American Rockler catalogue is good as well and came with a discount code.

 

[Spectric]

It is hard to believe that once upon a time your desk would be lined up with many product catalogues from the likes of SGS Thompson and Lattice just so you had the info at your finger tips, any queries and a phone call was needed but now all on line. I agree there was something nice about having a real catalogue, you easily look through it and often come across something you had not thought of so found a better solution, on line you only get what you look for.

 

[Eshmiel]

The Axminster and Lee Valley catalogues used to come through the letterbox regularly but seemed to dry up some years ago. I notice that one can still ask for a paper Ashley Iles catalogue .... but, I find the (downloaded) PDF versions a lot more useable really. A big desktop screen helps a lot with seeing detail, as does the Acrobat search facility. Not so good on a phone-thing, I suppose; but I won't have one o' them toxic things about the place.

 

[Lorenzl]

Some times it was easier to find what you wanted in a catalogue especially RS or Farnell as they had the sections. Not knowing what words to search for could be frustrating.

 

[dannyr]

despite big and small screens, folks still buy books

 

[Stuart Moffat]

Maplin catalogue was my favourite when they only had one shop.

 

[Eshmiel]

Maplin catalogue was my favourite when they only had one shop.

They do, even me.

Although I now have electronic copies of just about every book on the bookshelf (and there are a lot). I do find a screen and the software version of any book easier to access.

Some books aren't available in a good electronic format so one or two still get purchased, though.

 

[glenfield2]

Compare and contrast Toolstation which still has a paper catalogue with Screwfix which doesn’t - much easier to pinpoint those ‘thing-me-jigs’ you can’t think of a name for by scanning pictures on a page instead of trial and error on a website.

 

[Lorenzl]

I wanted some plates to cover cables to prevent screwing through them. I tried some searches on the Toolstation website but couldn't find them. When I went into the store I looked in their catalogue and found them ""Safe plates".