Best fault code reader

[Stu B]

Originally Posted by V70Zig

Works good for me......check with your dealer though as if your not happy they will remove it and refund..not sure if it's the whole amount though and you should get 2 weeks to decide from when they do the upgrade.

Thanks, that's interesting to know - much appreciated.

[stimperley]

Originally Posted by Model flyer

Yes do look around as laptops that can easily manage what you want are available very cheaply .I was given one for free after speaking to a friend . His company were upgrading and all the old stuff was being scrapped . Once you have loaded your Vida and set it up don't connect to the internet as all sorts of dodgy stuff can get on and mess with the program

So I shouldn't install it on my regular everyday use laptop?

[Tatsfield]

Two reasons why a dedicated laptop is a good idea. Firstly you will worry less about dropping the laptop or getting greasy finger marks all over it if it is an old cheap throw away model. Secondly, VIDA will run under Windows 7 and so perfectly adequate old Windows 7 operating laptops will be available and you won't have to connect them top the internet. If you insist on using your all singing and dancing modern laptop, you can run VIDA under Windows 7 in a virtual operating system such as Oracle VM VirtualBox.

Some of the older laptops are really well engineered and highly suitable for using in a garage environment. I use an old IBM designed Lenovo T420 ThinkPad built for Windows 7 and which has metal screen hinges and a metal chassis. It does weight a lot more than more modern machines but it is built like a brick outhouse and the addition of a SSD as its hard drive means it works fast enough to handle VIDA without any problems.

[Stu B]

I agree, VIDA is best on a dedicated (old) laptop. A decent battery helps of course, but otherwise it doesn't need a very high spec machine.

I used this old Dell Latitude I had knocking around, maybe a 2014 model, something like that. Decently chunky and robust. I stuck 8GB RAM in and an SSD as I had those spare, it would be fine with the original 4GB and a spinning HDD though, just made sense to speed it up with spare parts as I had them.

I reinstalled Windows 7 and VIDA, and it whizzes along but is still worth about 50p if I accidentally drop it, spill oil on it or whatever...

[Tatsfield]

On the topic of laptop batteries, since the machine is going to be used around the car with the ignition turned on, I have an in-car 12v charger to plug into the lighter socket so that it doesn't matter what the battery is like as the machine runs on the charger.

[Auto Addict]

My recommendation to OP from my own experience is the AUTEL MaxiCOM MK808 which I purchased at the beginning of this year to replace an older Snap-On ETHOS scanner which sadly didn't cover my 2018 VW Golf R... The main reasons why I didn't go for another Snap-On diagnostic tool are: the updates cost £400+VAT at the very minimum ... they don't fully cover all the car makes like SAAB or Porsche ... and are very expensive in the first place (cheapest one starts @ £1200+VAT) but depreciate very quickly, quicker then you can pay them off with your Snap-On man ... so effectively you end up in negative equity with an outdated bit of kit
The AUTEL on the other hand has the latest 2020 software , covers every make & model with OBD2 including SAAB and Porsche and comes complete with 12 months of FREE updates as well as standard 12 months Warranty, all for £350 all in So that's at least £180 less than it would have costed me to update my old Snap-On ... very handy for anyone with 2 or more different brans of cars.
Check out the reviews on You Tube etc., of the AUTEL MaxiCOM range and be amazed at the things you can do with it besides reading & clearing codes