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MG MGF Technical - can you buy a secondhand testbook

hi would anybody know if you can buy a test book computer second hand or new
thanks andrew
AR Cayzer

Testbook does occassionally come up for sale, but they are rare. Also they can come up for sale incomplete or damaged/ missing parts - so buyer beware.

If I were looking for a diagnostic tool for my MGF, I don't think that I'd bother with a Testbook. Early versions are built on an ancient lap top, and the later T4 is hardly state of the art. Chances are that you have a far more modern and rapid laptop at home as it is!

I've not tried one, but Rovacom Lite would appear to provide an ideal solution. I am tempted myself, but how much would I use it I wonder?

Look here for more information: http://www.blackbox-solutions.com/products.html
Rob Bell

You also need to be careful what you buy. I have seen various non-Testbook diagnostic tools being described as Testbook on eBay.

The Testbook software can only be run on certain laptops, so you probably won't be able to run it on your own laptop. The original Testbook was a desktop unit that had its own trolley. Later units are laptop based and are therefore more portable.

Ralph
Ralph Gadsby

In my day job I have the pleasure to use various DOS based software tools and you would be surprised at how fussy some of them are about what hardware they run on. The MGF came out in 95 so we are talking about Pentium 1's running at less than 166 Mhz at best that the first testbook would have been developed with.
Jon Baker

Andrew, I have looked at Rovacom but the cost is to expensive for me to justify. They gave a number for Australia but I would have to be using it 20times a day for the next 3years to make it worth while. If you find a good solution let me know.
Andrew W Regens

An alternative to the full blown T4 is the Omitec Omicheck hand held unit. I think that the price of this new is arount £2,000. They occassionally turn up on eBay.
Ralph

As Rob knows I have my own T4
Don't get too hung up on Laptops etc the current T4 software has worked on every bit of kit I have tried so far and under several OS's from Window 95 to Windows 2003 server it does not like Windows 2000 server though as it tends to delete the C drive if you uninstall it!

The bit that you must have is the bespoke T4 interface without it nothing works obviously

Oddly I do find T4 works better (less odd hangups) on my MG ZT V8 if I use a nice fast pc the standard Omitec provided Dell sometimes has comms errors

Earlier Testbooks were hardware specific for the T1 the Customised Windows 95 came bundled with drivers for only that HP machine I have a T1 as well which does a lot better job on earlier cars (pre 2000) than the T4 can for some odd reason so I am told.

The Rovercom lite is a much later and more advanced bit of kit but costs a lot to do all cars far more than a secondhand T4

But Rovercom have just released a Single vehicle version, licenced for individual use on only one vehicle at a time, so no good for my three cars.
The Rover 75/ZT version is just over £600 the MGF is bound to be less as they contain far fewer ECUs etc!

Also if you look at the Omitec website they now list reconditioned T4 interfaces and cables previously they would not sell these to Joe public but maybe they will now

Pic is of a T1 hanging off a Rover 75 before I got my T4 dog slow to use but sort of works


K Alexander

Hi Keith, good to see you here! :o)

I haven't looked into prices for the Rovacom kit for the MGF, partly due to time limitations, partly because we also have a ZTT, but because of a longer term plan to use an Emerald ECU on the MGF, which effectively negates the need for a MG Rover interface...

Of course, the MGF Register could invest in this kit - however, making it available to members is tricky due to geography and availability restrictions etc.
Rob Bell

Hi
http://www.gendan.co.uk/

I bought a tester which worked on my TF 160. It was about £60. If you look on the gendan web site there are various testers at reasonable prices
Ron

This thread was discussed between 08/06/2007 and 27/06/2007

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