Has anyone on this board purchased OBDII software( there are many)? Searched on OBDII, OBD-II, software Since I run an IBM thinkpad with a RAM-MOUNT in the truck I figured, why buy an addtional gauge. Just now narrowing the choices. There are lots and lots.

http://www.digimoto.com/

http://www.autotap.com/product_family.asp?FamilyId=260

http://www.scantool.ca/

Some product comparisons:
http://www.autoenginuity.com/dloads/Product_Comparison.pdf

Genenral info on OBDII:
http://www.akmcables.com/obdii.htm

I'm glad that you posted this, I was just starting to look into this myself.

There are tons of software programs out there. I'm guessing that they all report events as per OBD II standard protocols. However what they can then do with the data are only limited by the programmer's abilities. Interested in any and all feedback on programs.

Ditto

I just bought the Elmscan 5 USB from scantool.net and got the Digimoto software.

I've found things I liked - and things I hated in all of the software packages I've tried so far - but digi is pretty good

The thing I don't like about Digimoto is that it doesn't read the absolute throttle position correctly (but other software packages I've tried do) and that it doesn't appear to read very many of the available (and unavailable) sensors. Maybe they just left off the sensors that aren't common - but the free software that comes with the tool has like 80 things it can read (most of them come back as unavailable - but at least they are there))

What I DO like is that it's got a page where you can see several of the more pertinent sensor readings in analog gauge form...

I have the autoenginuity CAN/OBDII solution, although I use it with my PDA instead of a laptop. It's pretty good software, although it's expensive. It's especially useful if you get the upgraded manufacturer-specific packages.

I use the BR-3 Scantool with my Thinkpad (Had to purchase a serial to USB converter) and have had no issues. Second one I've owned and have found it very useful.

BR-3 Scantool link

x3, except for (Palm, preferably) PDAs. Need to get out on Google again - thought I remembered a solution.

Very cool, but for the price I'd probably still go with the scanguage and free up the PC for GPS nav, movies or whatever else.