[Colt Hero]

OBD-II/CAN Scanner Hardware & Software



I recently discovered my 12-year old Actron code reader cannot read the newer CAN protocol. Works fine on my '97 Taurus GL wagon (3.0L) and '02 Impala (3.4L), but it had previously failed reading a friend's '07 (?) Toyota Tocoma and more recently my Aunt's '96 (?) Hyundai Sonata. Both times it just came back with a flashing LED. Didn't know why at the time.



So - the wife wants a laptop (to replace the one the school took back) and I thought this would be a good opportunity to buy my next code reader (along with the laptop). I was looking at the Elm-family hardware as a possibility, but almost all of the software written for it looks like it hasn't been updated since the early days of Windows. I see mention of ancient operating systems like Windows98, Windows2000, maybe some XP.



Except a product from OCTech called Touchscan Software. It's $34.95 with a $24.95 professional add-on. The screens look modern and Operating Systems up to Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) are supported. It appears to be the only software out there for these Elm units that is actively supported, but I could be wrong.



Is anybody using this Touchscan software who might be able to provide some insight? Also, regarding the hardware, who makes the best Elm-based unit? OCTech seems to be plugging Scantool.net's hardware, but I ran across another software maker (GLM, out of Australia) who cannot recommend Scantool.net's products because they discovered Scantool.net had switched to a Chinese clone chip of the Elm 327 (essentially stealing Elm's technology at a much lower price). The clone chip also caused some compatibility issues for GLM. Probably want to stay away from that mess!