OpenFlash Tablet

[StormTrooper]

^^^^ right, I'm the same way.

I took the time and read hundreds of pages on tuning and I have a pretty good grasp on it, but could never get the hang of rom raider or ecu flash to the point I was willing to try it.

NA tuning is even simpler, however it's a new car and I plan on doing one custom tune and watching for problems , that's about it.

Nice to not have to make your own cable or deal with the garbage that is inovate wideband

[dokterdewe]

Originally Posted by Rombinhood@OpenFlash

Yes, it will work on non USDM cars. However, we have only tested our maps on USDM cars. So we don't know if the ROM can be written to a non USDM car. Worst case scenario is that you email us your original ROM (which the OpenFlash Tablet will read and save for you) and we apply the tuning changes on your original file and email it back you. That should work just fine.

wow... where can i get this thing then... i need this solution of flashing back to stock tunes immediately to make sure factory warranty intact...

[bakerr6]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

Is Tactrix going out of business?

I think this is over-priced because it's artificially limited. If it worked on both BMWs and FR-Ss and they kept adding more cars to support, even if I had to pay another $100 per model supported, I'd buy one in a second. Instead, it's the lock-in system. Not as crippled as ECUTek or Cobb, but still crippled.

For what it's worth, after buying one, I'd drive over to Shiv and have him tune the car. Heck, I emailed them 6 months ago, asking about their tuning.

Frankly, if they dropped these artificial limitations and sold it for 600 with support for both cars and no lock-down, they'd crush the living shit out of EcuTEK and BRZEdit, making more money in the end and building a happier community.

There's a few things you have to consider. They are offering a produt as an excellent value, that is limited in scope, yet provides an exceptional value, compared to other products out for our cars. I would focus more on what they are offering and you will see that their business model is extremely effective, and I would actually be turned off if they made it a "wal-mart" esque tuner.

[qoncept]

Originally Posted by rupert

For something as important as the ECU, I'd rather have a device that is programmed to handle my car only. The last thing I'd want is a jack-of-all-trades system that screws up my car even though it saved someone a few bucks compared to needing two units.

From a development standpoint, I would imagine building a unit that handles different ECUs and still manage to be feature packed in a limited amount of memory to be a nightmare. Not only would there be tons more QA needed (since this deals with multiple types of ECUs), but the time it would take (since it is a small development team I'm assuming) to test could delay the product who knows how long.

Whoa, what? The only thing they're changing on this if you send it in is the programming. It works on both cars and the same amount of QA had to go in to it. EcuFlash does it without any issue. I'm guessing the holdup is the limited storage on this device.

The ONLY reason this thing doesn't work on more than one car at a time is for sales. Take that however you want.

@Rombinhood@OpenFlash, where does the name "OpenFlash" come from? Clearly nothing about the tablet is open. Is it because you don't encrypt the roms? That puts you in the same company as almost every other ecu flash system that isn't choking out the Subaru community.

Does "open" imply that you'd be cool with someone buying your tablet, snooping on the communications and writing their own software?

[EAGLE5]

They have already done 95% of the work to support both cars. They just have to combine them into one install. It should not be overly complicated. The hardware is the same for both tablet versions. It is a business decision. They are already doing the work to support both cars.

It is not about saving a few bucks. It's about being truly open. Tactrix is truly open. OpenFlash could be too. They choose not to be. You get complete control of the car, but not the tablet. I want both.

Originally Posted by rupert

For something as important as the ECU, I'd rather have a device that is programmed to handle my car only. The last thing I'd want is a jack-of-all-trades system that screws up my car even though it saved someone a few bucks compared to needing two units.

From a development standpoint, I would imagine building a unit that handles different ECUs and still manage to be feature packed in a limited amount of memory to be a nightmare. Not only would there be tons more QA needed (since this deals with multiple types of ECUs), but the time it would take (since it is a small development team I'm assuming) to test could delay the product who knows how long.

Based on the tuning options available, their model is as good as it is going to get for a little while. Yes, if RomRaider could handle our vehicles, you could cheap out and go the Tactrix route. For the retail price of EcuTek alone, you could basically buy two of these. I'd just count that as a win compared to buying EcuTek for the FR-S and their tablet for the BMW. You can't have your cake and eat it too

[mad_sb]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

They have already done 95% of the work to support both cars. They just have to combine them into one install. It should not be overly complicated. The hardware is the same for both tablet versions. It is a business decision. They are already doing the work to support both cars.

It is not about saving a few bucks. It's about being truly open. Tactrix is truly open. OpenFlash could be too. They choose not to be. You get complete control of the car, but not the tablet. I want both.

It's probably a different firmware version between the two platforms as much of the communications will not be the same..

Logging will use a different protocol between the two as will reading and flashing.

[qoncept]

Originally Posted by mad_sb

It's probably a different firmware version between the two platforms as much of the communications will not be the same..

Logging will use a different protocol between the two as will reading and flashing.

Right. So rather than programming one or the other on to the tablet, you program both. Then, when you're reading the ECU, it asks which. When you're flashing, it could either ask, or get a tiny bit sophisticated and figure it out from the rom you're flashing. Like EcuFlash does. Unless you 1) don't have enough space on your limited hardware or 2) made a business decision.

[utekineir]

interested

[bakerr6]

I love it how someone offers a cheaper/better solution than what is currently available and people are griping about it. Just shows that you could give it away for free and people would still complain

[jamesm]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

Is Tactrix going out of business?

I think this is over-priced because it's artificially limited. If it worked on both BMWs and FR-Ss and they kept adding more cars to support, even if I had to pay another $100 per model supported, I'd buy one in a second. Instead, it's the lock-in system. Not as crippled as ECUTek or Cobb, but still crippled.

For what it's worth, after buying one, I'd drive over to Shiv and have him tune the car. Heck, I emailed them 6 months ago, asking about their tuning.

Frankly, if they dropped these artificial limitations and sold it for 600 with support for both cars and no lock-down, they'd crush the living shit out of EcuTEK and BRZEdit, making more money in the end and building a happier community.

how many people own both a compatible bmw and an 86? seems like an edge case. personally i think it's a fantastic value. especially considering all of the added cool stuff and the physical device itself, on top of the flashing capabilities.

in any case, it's the only way out there to actually own the work you paid for and not be married to the next visconti. it could cost twice as much and it'd still be the best option out there, if it does what they claim.

[Skyllz]

Originally Posted by bakerr6

I love it how someone offers a cheaper/better solution than what is currently available and people are griping about it. Just shows that you could give it away for free and people would still complain

Seriously.... some people would get it for free and then complain there is no one to tune their car for them... FOR FREE.

I have been reading alot about this in the BMW communities, if this works as good as it does for them, it will kick ass.

[bakerr6]

Originally Posted by Skyllz

Seriously.... some people would get it for free and then complain there is no one to tune their car for them... FOR FREE.

I have been reading alot about this in the BMW communities, if this works as good as it does for them, it will kick ass.

Agrred, I'm just hoping I can integrate FA20club's flexfuel kit.

[Sing4LTS]

Originally Posted by bakerr6

Agrred, I'm just hoping I can integrate FA20club's flexfuel kit.

that's exactly what I want to do too!

[EAGLE5]

I'm sure few people own both. However, I plan on eventually buying a 135i. I'm also looking seriously at getting my wife a new Forester. I can even see an Evo in my future. What can I say? I have a big garage. Tactrix supports 2/3 of those cars and will probably soon support the twins. Tactrix cables can be moved from car to car with no lock-in.

I like the hardware idea of the OpenFlash. The single-car lockdown is just a deal breaker. DRM pisses me off.

At this point, the closest thing to what I want is BRZEdit Pro. It's just too rich for my blood. They do lock it down to one Tactrix cable, but I cannot imagine that ever getting in my way.

Baker and Skyllz, silly potshots come from not understanding what I wrote. They are following a business model I won't put money into. I don't buy DRM-crippled music. I don't buy DRM-crippled games. I do buy MS operating systems and software because I have no choice. In the case of ROMs, at this point, I would only go to a tuner who uses BRZEdit Pro and leaves unencrypted ROMs. Are there any in the SF Bay Area?

Originally Posted by jamesm

how many people own both a compatible bmw and an 86? seems like an edge case. personally i think it's a fantastic value. especially considering all of the added cool stuff and the physical device itself, on top of the flashing capabilities.

in any case, it's the only way out there to actually own the work you paid for and not be married to the next visconti. it could cost twice as much and it'd still be the best option out there, if it does what they claim.