OBD2 bluetooth/wifi - $8-$20 - any one use one?
 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vehicle-ELM327-Wi-Fi-WiFi-OBDII-OBD2-Car-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner-For-iPhone-/390578037649?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5af043e391
I was thinking of picking this one up an dusing my android phone to display things like voltage, MPG, etc.

They also allow you to read the error codes and other things related to the vehicle - a very cost effective alternative to paying to have the codes scanned or buying an actual scanner, depending on where you live. (I heard that autozone has stopped scanning the codes for free)

Thoughts?

I mainly want one for the cool factor.

obd 2
 

I have that exact dongle and I have Torque on my phone. Works awsome. I also have Dash Command as a trial and it is VERY helpful. I would try to stay in the US as far as shipping goes. Not a dis to China. Just saying shipping gets pretty long from overseas.

lol I'd rather save more and wait.

Torque works on my net10 android phone but I would love to get a cheap tablet to put in the dash storage.

Should I get the wifi or the bluetooth version?

I figure wifi would work with my 10.1" 1280x720 netbook right? I could buy or make a mount for it (similiar to the ones they have in cop cars)

wifi is made more for iOS apple devices, the Bluetooth ones work well with android.
I paid the $5 for the premium torque app, money well spent. Just the other day I started it in the garage and thought the engine blew up, checked the codes and found 2 for throttle sensor out of range, then remembered I had left the throttle body unplugged to look at the connector. It also lets you check for emissions test system readiness, displays all kinds of gauges, and lets you mirror the display so it reflects off the windshield for a HUD (only works well at night).

Will the wifi version work on windows/linux?

"Supports Android / Symbian / iOS / WP system smart phone / laptop / tablet PC"

I'm pretty sure either protocal will work on any device with bluetooth or wifi with appropriate software?

I think I'm gonna spring for the wifi version and see if I can get a program on my laptop to work with it.

That's why i prefer bluetooth, at the time I couldn't find windows software as good as torque for android.

If the laptop does not have Bluetooth - a Bluetooth USB dongle is CHEAP - as long as the O/S app can talk to it via Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi.

I tried that, Bluetooth dongles on laptops can be iffy, the drivers don't always play nice with the windows Bluetooth stack or the software. Trust me, the android solution is easy, fast and cheap.
You can get a no-name android tablet from china online for $100 these days if you want a larger display than a cellphone.

Not mine:
Attachment 23423

Android would be my choice too - it's just giving him an option for his consideration. :)

Well, ahem. I have bought that dongle before, I got one of the 50% bad ones, but got my money back fast. Got another one from a different vendor (a blue one, ELM 327 V1.5) and it works good.

I use an $.89 BT dongle on my laptop (Windows7) with ScanMasterELM that I found for free. It has many more features than Torque. I also connect it to my Android with either Scanmaster Lite or Torque free.

A caveat re: the $.89 BT dongle, they do burn out.

I also use the BT to use my phones internet connection on the laptop (it's 10 years old). Unlimited data is nice.

Ill have a look for that program, thanks.

I bought a bluetooth ELM dongle by accident and can't use it with my iPhone.
Need to get rid of it so that I can get a WiFi dongle.

iPhone doesn't have BT!? I thought they were magic.

Yeah the Iphone has blue tooth but wireless is more reliable and plug and play with IOS,
I has dash command on my Iphone and IPAD and it works much more info than Ill ever need to know and It clears codes for me when I tried to install a cold air intake that was causing some lean codes.
well worth having around IMHO, this shouldnt be a Iphone - android debate anyhow they really are both great OS systems.

http://www.customfighters.com/forums...a75741f190.png

Debate? Silly me,I thought it was a question with a joke included.

I have one for my iPhone with EngineLink, bought to get the codes, have played with the other features. Something about Apple charging a lot for a Bluetooth license, so 802.11 was the easy way out. If I was really concerned with speed/latency, I'd get a cheap Android device with Bluetooth, yet I can wait a few extra milliseconds for the trouble codes.

Britjoe do you have the Elm 327 with the Dash Command & iPhone? I just bought both, but it's not connecting. Anything info will help thanks!

I'm not britjoe, but I found getting the the thing to connect was a challenge on my Android, but easy on my laptop. I understand that iPhone does BT different. The BT code should be in the docs that came with the adapter it is either 1234 or 0000. After you get it connected to the phone you may need to tell the app where to look for the connection.

I did have to get a new adapter once because the BT did not work.

I use torque and a cheap Chinese BT Dongle and the combo works just fine for me. This isnt a race-car so I dont do heavy logging or anything like that but heard the app is great for that stuff too. Great for checking codes and vitals and the like.

I have one that I don't really use anymore... back in high school, I had a dock for my Motorola Xoom connected to power and the stereo and I'd put this app split-screen with Google Maps. I haven't done that in a while but I have a spare Galaxy S3 lying around I've thought about just leaving in the car. I don't know if there are any better apps than torque pro now that it's been a couple years. Any suggestions?

There are a few. Just scan the google play (that will work if you are wified to your home network). Also some for laptop.

Torque Pro is most likely best for the price, there is also a free version to check out that I use.