I can't answer for the experience of the prior reviewer. I wonder, though, whether a free PDF manual would have mattered much. I ended up buying several large books, and even so I am still learning things that this package can do, well over a year after installing it.
I am not a typical ecstasy electronica slut, but an aging rocker, with about 40+ years of recording studio experience behind me. I don't like looped drums, and I don't write 2-chord songs. I tend to program my drum parts note-by-note, and don't play great keyboards, being primarily a guitar player, singer and songwriter.
I have managed to produce a handful of songs at a very relaxed tempo (the production, not the songs), and am happy with the results. It would be nice if Sonar were easier to use, but how could it be, and still have all the power and flexibility that it has? I accept that it can be overwhelming, just like my first time in a 24-track studio boggled my mind with all its patch bays, signal processor racks and entire closets full of microphones, stands and cables. But trading it all in for a simpler 4-track studio is not the answer, unless I want to turn back the clock to 1966, with two acoustic guitars, 3 voices and 2 microphones, recorded in live stereo.
So Sonar is a good fit for me. I can "play" virtual instruments with just my mouse and keyboard. I can overdub my own (real) guitars and voices, add effects and processing, with nothing but a couple of phantom-powered microphones, a baker's dozen guitars, one mic stand and a direct box. I don't often even need a guitar amp. My midi-compatible keyboard and midi interface mostly just sit and collect dust, as I don't need them. If I were a good keyboard player, the guitars would probably be gathering dust instead. The point is that I can use the provided midi soft-synths to supply the drums I lack, along with the bass guitars, oboes, french horns, vintage organ and other instruments that I don't physically own, and might not play well, even if I did.
I may upgrade to a newer version, perhaps the full "Studio" version. But since I realize that I am still learning new things about Sonar every day, it'll be quite some time before I've run out of experiments to try, techniques to refine, and art to create, even with this high-end amateur software. Hopefully Cakewalk will take the hint, and improve their documentation, even if only online. Until then, there's good third-party documentation out there, if you want it.