Which Techstream?

[Illogan]

What-ho chaps!

I'm after some advice please.

I've decided to buy a Techstream - - I don't need one yet, - as there are no emergencies or imminent need - but I prefer to 'be prepared' should I ever find myself in a dire situation.

But, as ever - there appears to be the expectedly wide selection available, ranging from the 'Buy 2 get one free' on offer at Poundland, to the OEM handwrapped in Dodo skin from Harvey Nichols (in the Emirates Mall in Dubai).

A racing certainty that I will not be ordering either of those two examples (nor the full monty dealership edition!) - but I'd appreciate advice on the kits that other members have bought.

I'll be using it with a Windows 10 laptop (if that makes any difference to the hardware?)

 

Thank you.....

 

Dave

[Herbie]

First of all Dave, you're not buying Techstream.

What you need is a miniVCI cable from eBay/Amazon or wherever and you need this cable to allow the laptop to talk to the car. Most of the eBay sellers (and I would imagine amazon sellers too) also bundle a copy of Techstream in with the cable, but this is, of course, a pirated copy, which we can't discuss on here.

The correct way to do it would be to buy the cable and then download Techstream (free) from https://www.lexus-tech.eu/DiagnosticTools/Setup and then pay for a block of time to use it, currently €5/day.

Whichever way you go is a matter for your own conscience but you'll need that cable anyway no matter what, and I think this is the one I bought if I remember correctly.

[nicnac]

Or if you have loads of money you can buy the approved mongoose pro lead from drewtech .

Back 15 years ago you could not buy a reliable mini vci lead ripoff from china so I bought the real macoy . 

The driver from drewtech is flawless and 64 bit version for win 10 64bit but as I say its very expensive . 

As Herbie says you still have to DL and install a version of techstream .

[Illogan]

Herbs, Nick,

.

Aaah!    I knew the moment I posted that I'd 'cocked-up' the terminology - - but as I was into my third Laphroaig (1/4 Cask) of the evening - I took the lazy way - and didn't re-write.

 

I appreciate your advice, and whichever 'bits-o-wire' I buy, I'll be buying blocks of hours from Lexus.

Thank you

[Herbie]

4 hours ago, nicnac said:

Back 15 years ago you could not buy a reliable mini vci lead ripoff from china so I bought the real macoy . 

The driver from drewtech is flawless and 64 bit version for win 10 64bit but as I say its very expensive .

All I can say is thank goodness for cheap Chinese knock-offs

$495 is ok for someone earning a living with it but for most of us amateur or hobby mechanics who may use it two or three times a year, there's no way on earth I could justify that price. Even if I could, my good lady wifey would never agree

[nicnac]

12 hours ago, Herbie said:

All I can say is thank goodness for cheap Chinese knock-offs

$495 is ok for someone earning a living with it but for most of us amateur or hobby mechanics who may use it two or three times a year, there's no way on earth I could justify that price. Even if I could, my good lady wifey would never agree

Yes its extortionate.

Back in 2006 it was $299 .

You could not get a cheaper version that worked . The Chinese were just beginning to copy it . The driver never worked right . never mind the firmware . 

These days its all grand . I bought a cheapie recently just to have a nose ! 

Its great what you can get now . Makes all jobs easy on the Toyota/ Lexus 

[impero]

BTW - do not think to use it under win 10 64 bit version.

Yes you could do that eventually, after many hours spent to tune up the windows,

So i suggest to do like i did - i took an old I5 computer- i downgraded to win7 32 bit version and all good.

Currently i am using windows 7 32 bit version (yes it does matter if it is 32 or 64 - please choose 32 ) and all works flawless.

[Herbie]

It is possible to use it on Win 10 64-bit but yes, it did take a couple of hours of fiddling about to get it right - so much so that I can'r remember what I finally did to get it to work!

An easier and quicker way is to use either Oracle's VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation Player (both free) to create a virtual machine and either install Windows 7 or even Windows XP in that.

[Illogan]

7 hours ago, impero said:

BTW - do not think to use it under win 10 64 bit version.

Yes you could do that eventually, after many hours spent to tune up the windows,

So i suggest to do like i did - i took an old I5 computer- i downgraded to win7 32 bit version and all good.

Currently i am using windows 7 32 bit version (yes it does matter if it is 32 or 64 - please choose 32 ) and all works flawless.

 

7 hours ago, Herbie said:

It is possible to use it on Win 10 64-bit but yes, it did take a couple of hours of fiddling about to get it right - so much so that I can'r remember what I finally did to get it to work!

An easier and quicker way is to use either Oracle's VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation Player (both free) to create a virtual machine and either install Windows 7 or even Windows XP in that.

Oh I love it when I tentatively engage but one toe into the fringes of technology - - -

We believe the phrase "Once burnt - twice shy" - but I am proof positive (should it ever be needed) of the bare-faced error of that message.

.

I will now sit down, and with laptop akimbo - spend an unqualified number of hours teaching myself to understand your advice.

Sincerely - thank you.

If you don't see evidence of my continued existence for an unconscionable period of time - please do not fret, nor call in the Fourth Emergency Service - for I am fine - - but merely engaged in an hybrid study combining Enigma coding and Zen.

 

Liberally lubricated with Laphroaig.

Sincerly - - - Thanks!

 

[nicnac]

19 hours ago, Illogan said:

Laphroaig

good choice to help the mind meld !

Although I have the mongoose pro . I have a few netbooks from a different time and use them for XP and 7 to operate different motor software from those eras . So get yourself a netbook from the loft and get cracking . !