Harbor Freight Cen-Tech Scan Tool

[Techniker]

Harbor Freight is having a sale on its scan tools and I am wondering what people here thought of them. I'm looking at their higher end one (I know, an oxymoron) which supposedly can graph and record data.

This one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd-ii-code-reader-eobd-scanner-98614.html

Has anyone had any experience with these and if so, what do you think of them? Any drawbacks?

Thanks in advance,
Techniker

 

[jrherald420]

I would rather have the Autel scanner, its the same but ive heard of more software problems out of the Cen-Tech.

 

[Techniker]

Thanks for the information. I looked up the Autel and now I am debating about which to get. For another $50 or so, it seems that I can get the ABS and air bag capabilities which definitely would make it worth it...

 

[jrherald420]

Yes it would. I bought the 310 just to keep in the wifes car and it was 55.00 on Ebay and was bought from a US seller so i had it in 3 days insted of waiting a month for international shipping. I like there scan tools, they are easy to use and fairly cheap.

 

[bronc3buster842001]

I have one one. Works good. It really only read codes. Have a big OTC scanner I borrow for data logging.

 

[yellowbox]

i have one of these got it for under 100.00 with a 20% off coupon
so far so good , but mostly i have only pulled codes with it so far
had bout 3 monthes now

 

[Techniker]

Thanks for the input, everyone. Now I am tempted to go with the Actron:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FActron-CP9580-Scanner-CodeConnect-Trilingual%2Fdp%2FB003IOITRG&tag=thesciesnote-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Actron CP9580 Auto Scanner with CodeConnect Trilingual OBD II, CAN and ABS Scan Tool</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thesciesnote-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

The reason? Because I know it can record and review all 9 OBDII mode types. It also gives the "fixes" associated with each code it pulls specific to the make and model of the vehicle, which while not necessarily the real fix, can certainly be helpful.

Now when I read the HF description above, I start to wonder if it really can record data when it says, "print to PC", and then I also wonder if it does all 9 scan modes because it says "displays live O2 sensor data" which is only one of the modes...

Does anyone know about this? I want to figure this out because I am planning a HF trip tomorrow which is kind of a long distance away at 180 miles...

Thanks,
Techniker