VCDS Mobile email notification this morning...

[oilhammer]

Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a Mac/Windows debate, I have as much experience with Apple computers as I do tampons, so I'm obviously clueless on that front.

But you'd swear by what those people say all of our Windows machines would have burst into flames ages ago and the truth of the matter is that simply does not happen. I didn't even know Microsoft had a "help" line, LOL.

The computer I am typing all this on is so old, the battery on the MoBo is dead... and it has never "crashed" or "locked up" or whatever you call it once. Only time it is ever off is when the power goes out and the UPS shuts it down. If that happens, once power is restored, I press a single button and about 30 seconds later it is up and running again. No big deal. I have had to reboot it a couple times manually because ETKA installs wanted it, maybe 4 times total?

I asked my wife last night if her $280 Wal-mart CompaQ laptop (that is 4 years old now) has ever done anything strange and she gave me a puzzled look... it appears it has not, either. And she uses it constantly.

Of course, this is kind of like when I hear people say "Oh, Volkswagens are horrible cars, they are always breaking, yada-yada-yada" and yet both my wife and I are able to drive ours 100 miles a day, every day, for DECADES and never come in contact with a tow truck.... so I dunno.....

But, back on topic, the whole point of this new product ross-tech is offering is that it ISN'T platform dependent, which for all the Windows haters I would have thought would be a welcome thing... but then some folks start complaining about cost. So I guess Uwe is right, you just can't please everyone.

 

[MonsterTDI09]

How much moble data is used per hour. I would like to use it to monitor engine temp and so on.

 

[Santos_V]

Monitoring data is done locally with the device. No internet is needed.

 

[romad]

True, but kinda kills the point of a tablet. If I want that form factor, I'll lo laptop and have a complete OS and feature set. (Sent from my tablet on the couch . . . )

- Tim

Tim, an iPad in a case with a BT keyboard weighs less than a laptop. Of course the Hex-Net device probably weighs MORE than the VCDS cable, so light iPad in keyboard case + heavy Hex-Net = heavy laptop + light VCDS cable.

 

[Santos_V]

Tim, an iPad in a case with a BT keyboard weighs less than a laptop. Of course the Hex-Net device probably weighs MORE than the VCDS cable, so light iPad in keyboard case + heavy Hex-Net = heavy laptop + light VCDS cable.

I just weighed them. HEX-NET is half the weight of the HEX+CAN.

 

[romad]

Thanks for the info, Santos. Thus it looks like: light iPad in keyboard case + light Hex-Net > heavy laptop + heavy VCDS cable.

 

[tadawson]

Tim, an iPad in a case with a BT keyboard weighs less than a laptop. Of course the Hex-Net device probably weighs MORE than the VCDS cable, so light iPad in keyboard case + heavy Hex-Net = heavy laptop + light VCDS cable.

It's form factor, not weight . . . I really could care less about weight unless I am on an airplane, when likely I will have no need for VCDS!

- Tim

 

[Abacus]

I am one who rarely uses a computer anymore, that being a laptop or desktop. I bought a laptop 8 years ago specifically to use the VCDS, it's a dell Vostro (business line) running XP, and it's been rock solid since day 1. One of the keys just fell off it but it still works despite not being present. I put a new battery in it and it's back to 3+ hours on a charge. My only issue is the HD is small so I have to store pictures off-site, but otherwise I still love it.

The wife bought a new top-of-the-line Dell laptop two years ago based on my experience and it's been an abysmal piece of utter trash since she got it. Full of bloatware you can't remove or turn off, crashes often, and won't update even when you try to do it manually. It's been back to Dell twice and still has the same issues despite many new components. It's been looked at and tweaked by computer experts in the family (one who makes 6 figures+ at it) but it never seems to stay 'fixed'. She finally gave up on it and is using a old MacBook that works just fine. It was put in storage when her oldest daughter bought a new one.

That being said, I typically use my iPad Mini with bluetooth keyboard because it doesn't take 4 minutes to boot and connect, the iPad is just there instantly. I do what I want and then turn it off. So much easier. Same thing with my iPhone, it's hassle free and works flawlessly.

Computers are going away in favor of smart-devices, and I don't see the trend changing anytime soon. I think the idea is great, just not for me since there is another option, even if I have to lug the laptop around to use it. When it dies, I'll just get another on CL for $100 and be happy.

 

[romad]

It's form factor, not weight . . . I really could care less about weight unless I am on an airplane, when likely I will have no need for VCDS!

- Tim

A tablet in a BT keyboard case is the same form as a laptop: vertical screen with a horizontal keyboard.

 

[tadawson]

Exactly - the form factor I don't want in a tablet, and with a limited OS I don't want on a laptop.

A clear miss on both targets!

And don't get me started on the mind numbing dumbing down that is (cr)Apple . . . Third miss!

- Tim

 

[flynn78us]

I guess I am just silley but it seems to me there was a market for it so they made. I kinda remembered people asking for an app version. Oh well I bought a ****y old dell and a micro can.

 

[roostre]

Monitoring data is done locally with the device. No internet is needed.

Will gauges such as those shown in this post below be available initially or potentially in the future and without internet access?

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3962907&postcount=164

 

[tadawson]

I think the main point of this discussion is that there was some anticipation that it would be more similar to what other non-VAG OBD platforms have done, with less restrictions, few (or zero) external dependencies, etc. What was finally released, likely was different than some were expecting, and the discussion is mainly centered on if that is a move forward or backward. Sure, you get wireless, but wrapped with a lot of dependencies that a lot of folks may not be willing to tolerate.

- Tim

 

[CraneOp]

Seems this thread has turned into a OS debate

I for one am glad we are getting a product that will work on my ipad.

It might be possible to need cloud support for advanced things because the entire software is not installed on your phone or tablet like it would be on a laptop device

If you can't live with the requirements buy the older one

Hopefully someone can review this product after it's finally being sold

 

[Uwe]

Will gauges such as those shown in this post below be available initially or potentially in the future and without internet access?

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3962907&postcount=164

Yes. That's in there from the get-go, and it does not require internet access to use.

The only caveat is if the control module you want to display data from uses the newest UDS/ODX protocol, you will have to connect to the cloud once (after having done an initial scan of your car) in order to download module-specific data files that tell VCDS-Mobile how to interpret the data from that module. But once you have them, you can display gauges (and log data, etc) until the cows come home, without connecting to the internet.

Oh, and that functionality is accessed using the [Live Data HUD] button in the Functions menu once you're talking to a module:

-Uwe-

 

[roostre]

Thanks Uwe,

Having gauges will be great. I have enjoyed playing with Torque Pro while waiting for VCDS-Mobile. The Torque Pro user interface is fine and the gauges are great visually, but the application is limited in scope and usefulness. Having to search for and convert values along with guessing at equations for custom PIDs while wondering if the results are correct or accurate lowers my confidence when using Torque Pro.

It would sure be nice to have a web browser on my radio screen displaying VCDS-Mobile gauges, even if it stopped me from listening to the radio.

Much of the time the radio just seems to be an annoyance and I rarely listen to it anymore especially when you have to crank the volume way up when the windows are down or because of road noise at higher speeds. I have always enjoyed driving with the windows open, even in the winter where I pretend I am in Hawaii on those sunny days when it is not raining after my car warms up and I can blast the heat.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

I'm gonna unsubscribe now that this thread has gone full-blown you-know-what.

 

[bizzle]

OS X specifically is actually fairly weak as far as security goes if someone wants to try.

This is incorrect. OS X is not fairly weak and the reason it doesn't get hit with virii is not due to its small market share relative to Windows.

OS X is BSD. It's a fully compliant and licensed POSIX operating system. It's far more secure, under the hood, than the myriad consumer oriented *buntu variants. Debian (from which Ubuntu is derived) is itself inherently more secure than the variety of off-shoots. Not all flavors of UNIX or Linux backport security patches and bug fixes. BSD, and Debian hardened, do however.

Before OS X, Apple had a much smaller market share but was infested with malware. It's simply not true that market share has a causal relationship to a platform being targeted and attacked. In fact, the argument doesn't even make common sense let alone logical coherence. Apple is one of the most successful and wealthy corporations in the world. iOS users consistently spend more money on their platform than others users do on theirs. Apple, and its user base, present a big juicy target. To date there has been only two malware outbreaks on the OS X platform and it's not due to lack of trying.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bizzle]

It would sure be nice to have a web browser on my radio screen displaying VCDS-Mobile gauges, even if it stopped me from listening to the radio.

Does your radio actually have wifi and browser capability or are you just wishing for that capability some day in the future?



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[1854sailor]

I'm gonna unsubscribe now that this thread has gone full-blown you-know-what.

^^ This!

 

[roostre]

Does your radio actually have wifi and browser capability or are you just wishing for that capability some day in the future?

No, I'm just wishing for it just like when it's winter and I'm wishing I was in Hawaii.

I have the stock RCD-510 radio, however it could be replaced with a radio that runs Android and maybe you could then load a web browser app on that type of radio.

Below is a link to a thread with pictures of "Torque Pro" running on Android enabled radios along with other types of setups (see post dated March 10, 2013 by "amdriven2liv" showing an Android double din head unit in a VW Amarok):

http://torque-bhp.com/forums/?wpforumaction=viewtopic&t=160.0

Hopefully we will soon have similar threads on this forum where members showcase their VCDS-Mobile setups.

 

[bizzle]

all of those OEM solutions are locked down even though they run a version of linux or android. I'm not sure they'd have wifi and you'd need that to do what you want.

*but* the pictures in the thread you linked (that I looked at) were actual android tablets modded into the factory dashes. that would be totally doable and you wouldn't lose anything since you don't really care about radio and you could also still get pandora, grooveshark, iheartradio, or locally stored music without too much difficulty. totally doable and not particularly expensive depending on your skills at mucking about with your dash. you could have a stereo shop do it for you. There are a couple I know of in your area doing custom installs.

 

[Bengoshi2000]

I held off on buying a VCDS dongle until the prices for the mobile/wifi edition came out. $400 for only 10 cars (or $500 for unlimited cars) was just waaay outside of my budget for one device that can only work on one of my cars. If money were no object, I would have held out for the unlimited mobile edition. But, I've got several friends with MKIV VW's and I didn't want to get all stingy with it (friends don't like it when you make them take a test to determine if they are "vag-com worthy").

I picked up the KII USB for $250 and bought our babysitter's aging Dell Vostro 1500 for $80. Turns out I had an unused/unregistered copy of XP Pro so I gladly stripped Vista (and the Dell bloatware) off of it. I had to slipstream together an install disc (so XP would recognize the SATA drive), downloaded the XP drivers from Dell, and now I'm running VCDS without a hiccup. (And I have a spare computer for when I have two kids that need internet access or MSWord to write reports, etc. for school).

As one who drinks a lot of APPLE juice, I had forgotten that XP Pro was such a solid OS. A clean install runs pretty snappily on that old Dell dual core.

Anyway, my hat's off to Ross Tech for developing the mobile edition. Great product, great company.

 

[thebigarniedog]

I held off on buying a VCDS dongle until the prices for the mobile/wifi edition came out. $400 for only 10 cars (or $500 for unlimited cars) was just waaay outside of my budget for one device that can only work on one of my cars. If money were no object, I would have held out for the unlimited mobile edition.........

Your post sums up what I believe the real market (ie outside of the Amen crowd) will establish in sales when the product actually hits the market. Price sensitivity is an important economic reality that cannot be ignored. Ask yourself, what is the killer application of this product over the existing Ross-Tech product? Of course, if they eliminate the existing product line does that mean people will buy the new more expensive line? Good luck with that thought.

Since the lads at Ross-Tech have been monitoring this thread, I went a step further and suggested that this new system, at this price point, needs to support more then just one car brand. Most of us own more than one brand of vehicle. Currently, my vcds cable cannot service my other vehicles. As to the "appeal" offered from the greatest and latest crowd that have chimed in, I would again suggest that a diagnostic tool should spend most of it's existence not being used --- assuming one likes to actually drive their car.

Finally, to the extent that this thread has encompassed a side discussion about the windows platform, I would note that if this platform was so"awesome" it would not have to be defended so vigorously. Polite cough, why the need for Microsoft marketing campaign to explain why chromebooks supposedly suck. Windows ......color me unimpressed ......

 

[oilhammer]

VCDS will work on any other OBD2 car's generic OBD2 protocols, same as any other generic scan tool. Which, unless you are willing to spend thousands of dollars, is the exact same usefulness any of the cheap generic hand-helds will give you on those other brands. I rarely use that function (because I really don't need to) but it can do it. It actually works faster to check OBD readiness than my OTC hand held device that JUST checks for generic DTCs and readiness, and nothing else.

 

[Abacus]

Sorry, but I've found a handful of cars it won't work with and had to borrow my father's generic scan tool, which did work. Most of the cars were Chevy/Gm platform although there also was a Ford and my wife's old Kia Sorento.

 

[oilhammer]

Interesting. I've never run across that. But again, I rarely ever use it. Just did yesterday though to check pre-MVI readiness on a 2002 F150 and it worked fine. Can't remember the last time, though. Maybe on a Toyota?

All of our shop tools are housed in a lock-up cage at the other end of the shop. And while I'd never try and diagnose anything without the proper tool, sometimes after you have done so, put the tool back, and then later proceed to initiate a fix, the last step is a simple DTC clear and verification of readiness. Which I admit I'm often too lazy to go get the other tools. Plus, many of the others take a few minutes to set up and get working. For some strange reason, most need these silly giant bulky interface boxes between the USB port and DLC, and they are just awkward and clunky to use, or a CAN interface module on some others. VCDS is just a simple dongle on a USB, and I am in and out in seconds. My mini-PC is always on, sitting next to my toolbox.

Usually though I just grab the little OTC job next to it.

 

[bhtooefr]

VCDS is restricted to the protocols that VW uses, so some GM, Chrysler, and Ford products are left out:

Generic OBD-II functionality is limited to cars using ISO 9141-2 ("CARB"), ISO 14230 ("KWP-2000") and ISO-15765 ("CAN") protocols. None of our interfaces support the SAE J1850-VPW and J1850-PWM protocols used by most US-market pre-2008 GM and Ford products, so VCDS cannot work at all on those cars. Most early (1996-2000) OBD-II compatible Chrysler cars used the compatible ISO-9141-2 while many 2001-2007 Chrysler cars use the incompatible SAE-J1850 standard.

 

[oilhammer]

VCDS is restricted to the protocols that VW uses, so some GM, Chrysler, and Ford products are left out:

That makes sense. Everything should be CAN now, however. I just plugged mine into a 2012 Transit Connect, worked fine. Strange that it worked on that 2002 F150 yesterday, though.

...wait, it was a 2005 F150. And that is probably why it worked.

 

[wolfsburg_de]

Really, guys ... there are more important things to argue about than Windows -vs- Mac .... like PS3 vs XBox360 .... GO!

Also here's a stupid "smart" TV: