Howdy all,

I know this question has been nearly beat to death.



Does anyone have a favorite Bluetooth OBDII adapter to use with an Android phone or tablet?

I think I'll jump on that bandwagon!


Regards,


Rick

 

While there are a TON of them out there, and they can be had cheap -- they all come from China in this price range. So here is some advice, take it for what it's worth (free):

I don't care for the one many people will point you to: the bamf unit -- mainly because of where its flashing lights are that tell you it is working (or it just has flashing lights) -- they point right back at the driver/passenger and in the dark of night I PERSONALLY (so no one takes offense here) find it extremely annoying and distracting.

Buy from a seller that has US stock and a great reputation, why? because there will be bad ones, and if you get one the Seller will likely just shoot you a new one, no return required.

Here is a unit similar to mine, from a seller I have dealt with that does the "no questions asked" motto of customer satisfaction. Not the cheapest, but at this price we're talking a buck or two. And throw the s/w disk in the trash as soon as you get it, or for grins, run your favorite virus scanner on it and watch the lights and sirens on your computer catch on fire

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-OBD2-OBDII-ELM327-v1-5-Android-Bluetooth-Adapter-Auto-Scanner-Torque-/131409619170?hash=item1e989fa8e2&item=131409619170&vxp=mtr
I'm sure you'll hear from the BAMF crowd shortly...

 

I have the cheap little blue super mini elm327 adapter from china. It works but not all the time. Somethimes when i shut the truck off and and turn it back on it wont connect right and it will only read a couple pids. So then i have to turn everyhting off, unplug the adapter and plug it back in and restart everthing then it will work. Not sure if its the cheap adapter or what but it gets annoying.

 

I have this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400496352264?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Works every time. I have an android head unit in my truck that I use with it.

 

I have this one:

It acts up every once in a while with a disconnect and needs to be unplugged and plugged back in but for 23 bucks it work ok for me.

 

That's the one I meant... -- where'd I get bamf??

Personal choice, but I do know there are not many complaints on that BAFX unit, and for me the light thing, is on a bunch of 'em...

Mine doesn't always reconnect on truck shutdown as well... But I am in the habit of pulling the module whenever we're going to be somewhere for a while -- they stay powered on...

 

Piece of electrical tape will cure the distracting light issue.

 

Thanks guys for all the suggestions!

VIrus? What's that? Been using Linux since the 90's.

You must be talking about some sort of "problem" using Winblows I would guess......

I won't be using it with a computer anyway. I have an Android phone and a tablet so it will work just I would think.

 

you got me on the windows thing -- pissed me off when one of those "Microsoft Support Calls you" scams got my 90 year old Mom the other day. Of course I had warned her, but they just sounded so real... She said.

Droid device works perfect -- I'm starting to look for protection (virus firewall, etc.) on mine now though -- they say it is the next frontier for the hackers. Of course all the IOS guys will chime in now...

 

Yeah. They use an "Apple" version of BSD Unix. A few years ago at LINUX-CON they had a hacking "contest" to break-in and take control of 3 current horsepower laptops via wireless.

The first one to "fall" was the Macbook Pro!!, the second one was the one running Win7 and there was no third one (I think it was running Ubuntu).........The first winner got to keep the laptop they broke into. AND $10k.

By the way, you're already using (Google) Linux...............AKA "Android"!

 

Yeah someone had told me Android was a Unix derivative, so not surprised -- any suggestions on "protection" now that I've taken it this far off your topic?

 

There is supposed to be Version of Avast but I haven't been able to find it at the google store. A couple of other ones too but I will have to find my notes. My wifes phone has been comprimised I am pretty shure. So I been looking on line. Getting to where I don't trust google anymore. They shove adds down your throat.

 

I just did some quick googling on best FREE anti-malware for android and Avast came up top or in the top of the picks. I just turned on wifi on my phone and went into googleplay and searched on Avast. Found and downloaded the free version and even did a quick scan.

I had an issue on my phone (new Droid Turbo) where it started pocket calling all of the sudden. I had left wifi on and think someone got in -- I still had the drag to unlock on, but in the couple months I'd had the phone not one pocket call, and then several. I set it up with a PIN and that stopped it, but I feel better with something watching over the open system...

See what you guys come up with

And for sure I've now done a complete