Entry level OBD scanner (ELM327 vs STN1110) and Mac user

MartinC

New member
Joined
Aug 21, 2014
Location
Montreal
TDI
Jetta 2009
Hello

I have been looking lately at low cost ODB scanner ( for novice user: Jetta TDI, 2009.. and perhaps also for my wife's Honda Civic). I don't really intend to do major maintenance myself but would like to have more information before going for repairs.

I looked at low cost products such as Simvalley's ELM 327
http://www.simvalley.us/elm327wifi
and found it interesting at first sight

Reading about ELM 327 standard/architecture, I found some articles suggesting some performance issues and limitations when comparing it to 16 bit STN1110 chip

http://www.obdsol.com/downloads/stn1110_vs_elm327.pdf

So, I was wondering if it's worth going for a STN1110 chip OBD reader for basic needs in which case there might not be that many on the market ?

http://www.scantool.net/scan-tools/pc-based/obdlink-mxwf.html
(looks like the OBDlink app comes with the adapter)


Thanks…
Regards,
Martin
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Myself, I have ScanTool's product, and like it a lot -m9tnis software upgradeable, and I have yet to find anything it won't connect to. I also find OBDLink to be light years ahead of Torque . . . at least for diags. If all you want is gauges, Torque might be the better pick, since (at least when I tried it), that was about all it did, and that didn't interest me.

- Tim
 
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