Best options for laptop based scanner programs

[SBUBandit]

Got a laptop recently and am interested in finiding out which of the laptop based scanner programs would be a good option. Anyone who uses one these programs, I'd love to find out some of the pros/cons to the different programs, as well as which features I should definitely look for. I'd like to be able to at least see live data, but I've never used one, so not sure what other features would be handy. Definitely not looking to drop a ton of money on one, but would like something worthwhile. Thanks

 

[jimmyjam]

if you've got bluetooth on your laptop then get a cheap bluetooth odb2 adapter off of ebay. I got one for $15. if you have an android phone you can get the torque app as well. i never bothered to use it with my laptop so i can't comment on the software. heres a link to software that will work with it

 

[djthumper]

I just got one myself, ScanTool.net LLC - OBDLink SX Scan Tool/OBD Interface - ScanTool.net so far it seems pretty good. There is other software that you can get for it was well.

 

[SBUBandit]

I just got one myself, ScanTool.net LLC - OBDLink SX Scan Tool/OBD Interface - ScanTool.net so far it seems pretty good. There is other software that you can get for it was well.

Not bad, I like the price on that one. Looks like its capable of most everything I would need. Anyone else have any experience with OBDLinka SX?

 

[christo829]

I just got one myself, ScanTool.net LLC - OBDLink SX Scan Tool/OBD Interface - ScanTool.net so far it seems pretty good. There is other software that you can get for it was well.

I just got the OBDLink SX interface with the ScanXL Pro software. They had a decent sale not too long ago. Eventually I'll get the GM specific "module" for the software as
well, so I can get ABS, drivetrain and some other codes that aren't covered by the generic OBD-II code sets.

I used to use one of their older ELM327 units, and it worked great with the free software. You could read/clear codes, get real time sensor data,
set up custom layouts so you could watch specific sensors instead of all of them, and, with a little hacking, you could log data.

The new software still does all that, allows for logging without hacking it, and there's some bi-directional functionality, so there's an opening for communicating
with the PCM and certain control systems. That part is a bit undeveloped, but some folks on the OS were using it to talk to the encoder for the 4wd at one
point. Not sure if they'd found other command functions, but if that gets developed a bit more, the only thing you couldn't do is update the PCM software...

Happy New Year!

Chris

 

[navigator]

I just got the OBDLink SX interface with the ScanXL Pro software. They had a decent sale not too long ago. Eventually I'll get the GM specific "module" for the software as
well, so I can get ABS, drivetrain and some other codes that aren't covered by the generic OBD-II code sets.
.......

Chris

does the ScanXL show the tranny temp as well or do you have to get the GM specific module or something to do that?
I would like to have one I could hook up to my laptop that would also show the tranny temp as well.

 

[djthumper]

Mine came with OBDwiz and it has a bunch of stuff that I want to take a closer look at. I do want to get Scan XL Pro with the GM specific module so that I can get more into the system.

 

[SBUBandit]

Mine came with OBDwiz and it has a bunch of stuff that I want to take a closer look at. I do want to get Scan XL Pro with the GM specific module so that I can get more into the system.

I am definitely leaning towards OBDLink SX, I thinkg the OBDwiz oftware would be most of what i need, but I like that if I wanted i could then just upgrade to the Scan XL Pro software. Sounds like a winner.

 

[vipergg]

Got a laptop recently and am interested in finiding out which of the laptop based scanner programs would be a good option. Anyone who uses one these programs, I'd love to find out some of the pros/cons to the different programs, as well as which features I should definitely look for. I'd like to be able to at least see live data, but I've never used one, so not sure what other features would be handy. Definitely not looking to drop a ton of money on one, but would like something worthwhile. Thanks

OBDCOM Diagnostic Systems for ALL vehicles

Read faq's and determine if it meets your needs. Does engine diags , does not do abs,stability control, or other "safety" systems .