Manuals...

I read the manual if I need help or if I think there are features I am missing.

I fall into the unfamiliar category. if I have problems, then I am unfamiliar. meaning if I know I am unfamiliar to start, I read it, if I run into problems later, then I am unfamiliar with it.. hmm.. maybe those two should have been a single answer...
I also expect complaints about the single answer.. and I hope my range of answers is good enough.

I usually read the manual as a last resort; the exceptions have been the new Adobe products, (Photoshop 5, Illustrator 8) which are so complex and packed with awesome features (plug plug plug) tucked into bizarre, out-of-the-way corners that I would never have found them without browsing the manual over coffee.

Ah, but how many of you actually TELL THE COMPANY when something is wrong with the manual? If I had a nickel for every time someone complained about a user manual, and didn't bother to tell its company what the problem was...well, I'd have lots of nickels. This from a writer who would LOVE to know about any problems with the documentation created here.

We buy new computers every year so normally I don't read them. Even with our new TV & DVD player and receiver we just plugged them in. I keep all the manuals filed, tho, and if we get stuck at all (or like when we got the new Sony Playstation we wanted to hook it in too) we'll pull it out and read up on it.

Having worked in IS for quite a few years and direct tech support as well. I find some people are willing to try and others aren't. I'm now "Community Leader" for 2 sections of GeoCities and field tech questions from all the users. Most have really tried and are now stuck. I love helping those people out. I'm in fact in a chat with my SO's mom right now answering questions about PC-Anywhere that she just installed, and again she really tries her best so I love helping her too. It's the ones that don't care and want you to do it for them that bother me.

I'm generally too excited to read the manual. Still, for complicated devices, I do read it (either sometime after playing with it, or even before). A new bread machine is a read manual before use case (winging it just seems like a really bad idea), but a car stereo is a play with it first then later read the manual (to understand the more obscure/advanced features).

I usually read the manual. If it is something that I am familiar with, say bicycles, I will skip the manual unless I run into a problem. I always read software manuals, but seldom read computer manuals unless I am looking for something specific.

I like to explore for myself, then if I run into problems I will check the manual. Also later on, I will likely peruse the manual to see what features I've missed.

I hate asking stupid questions so I read the manual first.

I read manuals a lot more now than I used to. I used to have some weird pride thing going about not reading manuals, but I realized it's stupid, nobody I care about will think less of me, some will think more, and it's easier to figure the thing out.

The limiting factor for me is how much damage I could do if something went wrong. backhoes -- read the manual, calculator, don't bother.

I agree with milktree, I rationalize the potential cost of doing something wrong and decide from there.

I will go as far as I can with something before I break out the manual.

i only read manuals if it's absolutely necessary...hey, i'm a guy, what did you expect?:)

I typically don't read them unless I have problems or am looking up something specific and non-obvious. The fact that I write them for a living means something, I'm sure, but I don't know what.

I usually just sit down and read the manual as I put together whatever it is I'm putting together... or if I run into problems.

I find I do things without the manual and then if things get tricky I glance at it to get a hint.

I don't usually read the manual for assembling mechanical things unless I run into problems. But I always read the manual from start to finish if there's a danger of physical injury (mostly power tools, which I don't like anyway), and read the manual eventually for electronics stuff (because it's easy to miss features).

I didn't even think of software. I never read software manuals right away. I'll just look up specific things as I run into them.

I really like things that come with a 'Quick Start Guide' for people who don't need to wade through ten pages of definitions of the form "In this document, the word 'section' will be used to denote a body of text less than a full page but more than a paragraph, which pertains to a single aspect of the product being discussed."

RTFM