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Star Diagnostic System for sale
- Thread starter KarlC
- Start date
You can get the full Star C3 system new for under $300, and perhaps spend $75-100 for a used old laptop to run it on. No need to spend $600 .. that's way too much UNLESS this is a "real" authentic MB SDS. I think the price is too low to be real, though.
Don't bother paying 40-50% more than you need to for this.
Don't bother paying 40-50% more than you need to for this.
Chinese or real? Link for $300 C3 system?
I have a chinese version but the installation instructions are so convuluted and you have to have a serial port which most lap tops don't have anymore. I have tried sung a serial to usb adaptor but I can't get it to operate. Although I haven't tried very hard since I have had no issues with my car.
I paid just under $500 including shipping for a C3 system off of Alibaba including the T30 laptop, fully configured all I had to do was plug it into the car and it worked right out of the box. The old Dell and IBM laptops with the serial ports have actually increased in value over the past twelve months ($150-$200) in the local market here in Dubai, so the extra hundred bucks that the man in Shenzhen charges for the laptop I think is well worth it, especially since the headache of configuration is already taken care of.
Those CardBus and serial/USB adapters don't work very well with the Chinese SDS. You MUST get a computer with a built-in serial port in the back.
Fudge ... I agree that it's a nice turnkey solution just to get the T30 integrated and pre-loaded. It's worth $100 of my time (a couple or three hours of loading & config time) to just pay up front and have them do it, and get the turnkey system. If I had to do it again, that is what I would do.
Wow, $600 is a lot. Either the seller is greedy, or he's got a lot into his Star C3. Or likely a combination of the two.
Cheers,
Gerry
The install directions have about 20 to 30 steps of copying files here and there, standing on your head and scratching your balls three times. I pretty much put the thing aside until I can find a laptop with the serial port, but frankly I haven't been looking. I think we might have a couple at work that are going out of service.
+1. You need an old laptop with a "real" serial port. With that, it should work fine.
I'll have to look at the install instructions again. The last time I looked at it I was completely confused. It was like copy files a,b, and c to d then run e executable file and copy the resulting files to j then delete all the files in x and copy the previous to the previous files to w, delete files a and d, do a little jig, reboot the computer, sign up for obamacare and if everything goes right you can now connect your Mercedes and hope for the best.
C4 doesn't provide ANY benefit over C3 in terms of the applications or information therein. All it does is provide less cabling and a smaller mux. And it's even more complex and finicky than the C3 to set up and use ... at least the clone units.
It shouldn't be nearly THAT complicated. When you start mentioning Obamacare signup comparisons, that's sort of the computing equivalent of a Hitler comparison in a political argument. It was not that difficult to set up, just took some careful reading and paying attention. But you MUST have a laptop with a native serial port.
You think that's rough, try doing the full EPC+WIS installation! It's as described above, but with both hands tied behind your back, and chopstick in your mouth to move the mouse & type on the keyboard.
Eeeeep. Bad news on the Carsoft... don't plan on it working with the 500E. At. All. It works on newer MB's though, may be helpful with your R230 SL500. Don't even bother connecting it to the 500E, at best you'll get bogus data.
