Dice, dice clone or vxdiag

[Constantinos]

Hi everyone
I’m looking to get a scanner for my MY 2007 Volvo XC90 .
The problem is, I don’t know which to get.
What is the difference between original dice, vxdiag and a dice clone and which one should I get.
Any help would be appreciated.

[azzledazzle]

The biggest difference is the price.

You can often pick up a genuine dice on these forums if you keep your eyes open in the sales section, the genuine units are likely to be of better quality, but that's about it, it is the Vida software that contains all the magic, the dice unit is just a communication tool between Vida and the vehicle.

That being said, I've owned a vxdiag unit for about a year now, I picked it up 2nd hand off ebay for £40 and I haven't had an issue with it, I simply popped the dvd into the laptop, clicked install and that was it, had it working in under 20 mins, its done everything I've wanted it to do and more.

If you were running a garage and using it all the time I'd probably suggest getting a genuine one as it is likely to have the longevity over the clones, but for the average home user like myself, the clones are the more cost effective option.

There are tons of guides online and on these forums on how to install vida should you have any issues.

[Constantinos]

Originally Posted by azzledazzle

The biggest difference is the price.

You can often pick up a genuine dice on these forums if you keep your eyes open in the sales section, the genuine units are likely to be of better quality, but that's about it, it is the Vida software that contains all the magic, the dice unit is just a communication tool between Vida and the vehicle.

That being said, I've owned a vxdiag unit for about a year now, I picked it up 2nd hand off ebay for £40 and I haven't had an issue with it, I simply popped the dvd into the laptop, clicked install and that was it, had it working in under 20 mins, its done everything I've wanted it to do and more.

If you were running a garage and using it all the time I'd probably suggest getting a genuine one as it is likely to have the longevity over the clones, but for the average home user like myself, the clones are the more cost effective option.

There are tons of guides online and on these forums on how to install vida should you have any issues.

I should also mention that I have Vida 2014d downloaded. I have heard that vxdiag is hard to install. Is this true or not?

[azzledazzle]

The only issue I faced was that my laptop wasn't running Windows 7 professional, I think this is also a requirement even for the genuine units but I could be wrong.

Once I downloaded and installed that, the included CD with all the install programmes was a breeze. Although I would imagine when buying a genuine dice unit you may get better after sales support than you would from a clone. However, as I said before, there are tons of guides available to help should you encounter any install issues.

[Tannaton]

VIDA is the way to go, doesn't really matter whether with genuine or clone DICE so long as it works.

VIDA will give you access to all modules, as well as test procedures, fault diagnosis routines, a vast amount of documentation and part numbers for 99% of everything screwed to the car. The only thing better than a clone DICE and cracked copy of VIDA is a fully licensed, genuine one.

There are a very few occasions when programming is required which isn't possible with VIDA, this is when you are going beyond what Volvo intended even dealers should do, then VDASH seems to be the defacto tool.

[ltec]

I tried a lot of times to get vida but couldn't get it on my laptop. Paid for the easy install on another volvo forum and still couldn't get to work and they just said your laptop isn't compatible.

[Constantinos]

And how about vxdiag

[wendash]

My recently purchased VXdiag works well. As others have said, VIDA was a pain until I put Win7 Pro on the laptop and then it was a breeze.