Last original Verus update?

[Wheel]

I am the perfect example. I run a small mobile auto repair business on the side and thought that the snap on verus would be a good investment for many years to come. I now regret buying a verus and wish I would have bought the Autel Maxisys. The price of the Autel is lower and the updates are cheaper and if they do it the same as they did the maxidas they will give at least a three year window when they plan to quit the updates not six months like snap on.

I would still love to hear the official reason they are giving up on the verus because it still had plenty of power to do what it needed to do.

They won't tell you because they know their reasoning won't stand up to reasonable scrutiny or debate. Anyone with sense would see it for the bs it would be.
I own a Modis and didn't want to see it discontinued either, but I could also see it struggling more with each new update and Windows CE certainly has limitations that contributed to this, so I could see the end coming for it for years and could understand why - no explanation needed. The Verus is a different story. Its hardware should be able to support ANY updates the pro or edge can.

[Wheel]

The original Verus and the Verus Wireless probably were discontinued from production and not sold brand new for quite a few years already but the last update for it will be next year. That is not so bad , but the bad part is you can't buy the final update of any of the no longer supported older scan tools in the event the older unit software becomes damaged or you'll need the present new car coverage a few years later and be able to buy Final Legacy updates at a reduced cost.
The Port Freight 08 was discontinued from production this year and hardware support ends 2017 , update able possibly till 2020, but from what I can tell , the updates are fewer and farther between ,not much of it been updated since my tool expired since mid 2014. The Manufacturer version numbers on some makes increased by a couple decimal points where other version numbers went up an entire whole number or more. Not sure why, but afraid to update it for fear that some software changes might dumb down some of it's original functionality. After Maxi Cyst debut the former flagship Port Freight 08 coding abilities got listed on comparison chart as minimal and maxi Cyst coding abilities got listed as advanced. They never were able to give me any good examples of needed coding abilities a newer maxi cyst possesses that I would not also find on older slower Port Freight 08. I work on older beaters so if i find a working Verus with 10.4 3 years down the road from now for $500 (if my ancient Counselor 2 dies) and then can buy the Final Legacy 17.2 or 17.4 for $600- $700 (half the original cost ) snappy could still make a few bones off me and other budget challenged folk still using retro snap on scanners instead of buying a new Chinaman tool. There's a lot more choices out there . 25 year old Snap On Ratchet head replacements can be obtained, why not the final software updates of retro scan tools for 10 years (in event you want it or need it)

They are passing by an opportunity to make more money off of their obsolete tools just as you say.Like I said - a lose - lose situation.

[Wheel]

Something for people to think about is, does the darned thing turn on and plug in-??
Yes, but that isn't enough. People and companies, government. etc need to be held accountable. If we don't hold these accountable, and just accept mediocrity, then accountability will become extinct and mediocrity or worse is all you will have left. You can see many examples of this happening today to the point mediocrity or worse is now expected, settled for, defended, or even praised.
SnapOn hasn't been in the habit of putting the newest and fastest hardware components into their scanners. They balance the cost of components with production numbers. The vehicle manufacturers don't put aerospace quality components into their vehicles either. The hardware does what it was originally designed to do. It does that. Maybe not at breakneck speeds, but it does operate.
The hardware ( and xp for that matter) is perfectly adequate to do the scanning and scope chores and more that the Snap on software requires of it and this is my point. One does hear a lot of sniveling about its abilities from gamesters and internet junkies who expect it to play the latest edition of DOOM, etc while streaming a couple of different videos, doing online shopping and banking - anything but using it to fix a car.
So, one has a software version of perhaps 15.4, it will turn on and plug into a 2014 vehicle, and older vehicles. As long as the equipment isn't "punted" across the room, it will do that for many years to come.
Occasionally I pull out a scan tool that was originally purchased in 1988 and updated last in 1996 for an older vehicle. The technology of the scanner and the technology of the vehicle are compatible. It still works.
Sometimes the newest latest and greatest software is actually a downgrade to something that the older stuff used to do but got culled out of newer equipment.
This seems to be a Snap on specialty - not including still needed or useful features from older tools into their replacements. If they were better about correcting this - it would sure make it easier to let go of the older tools and buy the newer ones.
Sometimes the newest latest and greatest IS required because a newer technology vehicle is in our bay. They call it "progress"-!! (LMAO)
And the old verus can do it just fine - maybe not as fast

continued next post

[Wheel]

A brand new Ford laptop based scan tool needs to find an internet connection the minute it is turned on, while it searches for a current subscription, or it will NOT even "turn on and plug in". And it ONLY does Ford.
One SnapOn scanner I have (originally purchased circa early 2008) will plug in and turn on and allow me to complete the tasks on vehicles 2015 and older and it will do that next year, and the next, and the next.
Yes I do see the odd 2017 MY vehicle, and some 2016 as well. The vast majority of the vehicles we see are 2015 and older.

ALL my SnapOn scanners perform the needed tasks (for the most part) on over 95% of the vehicles that we are faced with.
As for the scope portion, yes it is "handy" to have connection and component "prompts", but critical thinking skills will still tell you that a scope is voltage/time, regardless of what year/make/model. There are advantages/disadvantages to not having the "all-in-one" kit.
There is no magical, do it all, forever, wave a flag, tell the mechanic what part needs replacing, wipe your nose, wipe the other end too, piece of kit.

We're not asking for nor expect forever - just update support until the unit has truly reached its hardware limits.

I hope they don't go the way of vehicle manufacturers where you need an internet connection and subscription 24/7/365 just to say hello.

If they do, there will be no reason to buy a Snap On scanner anymore and more reason to go OE or some other aftermarket scanner

I'm glad they plug in, turn on, and function.

If the Verus was seen to be struggling with new updates as hard as the modis was, I doubt you would have seen very many if any complaints. It stands to reason the more you pay for an object, the more you have a right to expect more from the object AND the company that made it. If they continue to support the pro, it looks like one should still be able to load that on the other Verus - same xp operating system. They'll have to sabotage the software to keep it from loading or running on the old verus if they keep supporting the pro.

[Crusty]

Once a company makes two, or three, or four, "newer" incarnations of an existing piece of hardware (be it a scan tool or a wall heater thermostat-!! LOL), the writing is on the wall. THAT should be some kind of heads up that things are not going to be "readily available" or "supported" for very much longer.

Companies do this all the time. Sometimes there are safety concerns looming, sometimes there are outside influences they see coming down the pipe soon so they pull the plug.

On one hand a bit more warning that things will be "discontinued" so get what you can while you can is a good thing.

On the other hand, it perpetuates the old and inhibits transitioning to the new.

I don't think that a new model should be released every single year but that's normal and everyone expects it with new automobile models every single year.

Some people get all goo goo ga ga when it's announced that a new I-phone is about to be released and they line up for days...... marketing..... lemmings.... sales go through the roof. Great for the company, they're in the business of selling. Not great for the owners of I-phone 4's. Same thing for Samsung and my current S3 probably can't be serviced with a new battery.... the writing is on the wall.
I intentionally bought the S3 when the S4 was the "new" version because of the reliability of the S3. The S4 was an unknown. Look what happened with the version-7 of one of their pieces of kit. Obviously the S3 will go defunked before the S4, or the S5. I know it and I knew it when I bought it.

[Crusty]

I tend to leap frog anything I purchase as I don't feel like being the guinea pig with all the "new & improved" hype. Companies may not like me for that but there is no law that says I have to jump on every new bandwagon just so the board of directors can have their six million dollar salaries.....

Personally I think long term reliability (and company reputation) would be best served by making what IS already there bullet proof, and back-fill the holes or design flaws significantly, before coming out with another "new & improved" model of anything. Most people are well aware that a new model vehicle should be monitored for one or two years before purchasing. Again, companies don't like me for that but dog years of experience proves that it is the safer course.

The people who jumped all over Windows-8 got a lesson. How about Windows-2000 or Windows-millennium-?? Same thing.

Having only 6-months (one release) heads up seems a bit short for a significant purchase on a 10,000 investment, but the multitude of new models being released was a bit of a warning to anyone paying attention.

A "legacy" support for perhaps a couple of years where someone could get their current piece of kit updated to a certain point would make sense to me. I'm pretty sure the Solus-PRO last release is 16.4. Making 16.4 still available for the Solus-PRO until 17.4 or 18.2 is out for the new platforms would be ideal IMHO, but I'm not running the company. The Solus-Ultra came out and the Solus-Edge came out, so there was a warning of some kind.

I simply cannot stress enough about the B/S trend of EVERYTHING going to "internet based" transactions, support, operational ability, being simply B/S. Those people in the Ivory Tower need to doff their suits and put on their dungarees and get out to the REAL WORLD now and then to keep things in perspective.

Dropping "updates" for a six year old platform, after 3 or more changes to the platform, doesn't seem horrible, as long as the thing will still plug-in and turn on when I plug it into a 2008 or a 2012 vehicle and FUNCTION for those applications of use.

I don't purchase things thinking of "trade-in value". I warn customers about the dealer game of "showing" a great trade-in value on their vehicles, then keeping the purchase price up to cover that mythical high trade-in value. I purchase thing to simply function for what they were designed to do. Yep, I'm an Ol-Fart.

[737mechanic]

All that would be more excepted if the Verus cost maybe $2000.00 vs $10,000 and would also be more excepted if like Wheel said the Verus was struggling to do its job but other than taking a while to boot up once it is there it doesn't struggle to do anything. They are already set up to write the updates so why not keep it going as long as they can. They are losing money from the people that have Verus's and are NOT going to upgrade to the Verus Pro or Edge.

I would see myself for example buying updates for many years as long as they was offered but once I get to a point of needing the extra coverage I am buying a Autel for $2000.00 and not going to feel as taken to the bank when they stop offering updates for it.

Guess my main point is if they are already geared up to write updates why not keep doing as long as people are buying them. After all the Pro is a windows xp OS so are they going to intentionally cripple the updates to not work on a verus.

[Wheel]

All that would be more excepted if the Verus cost maybe $2000.00 vs $10,000 and would also be more excepted if like Wheel said the Verus was struggling to do its job but other than taking a while to boot up once it is there it doesn't struggle to do anything. They are already set up to write the updates so why not keep it going as long as they can. They are losing money from the people that have Verus's and are NOT going to upgrade to the Verus Pro or Edge.

I would see myself for example buying updates for many years as long as they was offered but once I get to a point of needing the extra coverage I am buying a Autel for $2000.00 and not going to feel as taken to the bank when they stop offering updates for it.

Guess my main point is if they are already geared up to write updates why not keep doing as long as people are buying them. After all the Pro is a windows xp OS so are they going to intentionally cripple the updates to not work on a verus.

My points exactly.

[Wheel]

Once a company makes two, or three, or four, "newer" incarnations of an existing piece of hardware (be it a scan tool or a wall heater thermostat-!! LOL), the writing is on the wall. THAT should be some kind of heads up that things are not going to be "readily available" or "supported" for very much longer.

Companies do this all the time. Sometimes there are safety concerns looming, sometimes there are outside influences they see coming down the pipe soon so they pull the plug.

On one hand a bit more warning that things will be "discontinued" so get what you can while you can is a good thing.

At least !

On the other hand, it perpetuates the old and inhibits transitioning to the new.

What really perpetuates the old and inhibits transitioning to the new is their nasty habit of not including all the features the old had in the new - resulting in the new not being able to exactly replace the old making keeping the old around necessary if you want said features.

I don't think that a new model should be released every single year but that's normal and everyone expects it with new automobile models every single year.

Some people get all goo goo ga ga when it's announced that a new I-phone is about to be released and they line up for days...... marketing..... lemmings.... sales go through the roof. Great for the company, they're in the business of selling. Not great for the owners of I-phone 4's. Same thing for Samsung and my current S3 probably can't be serviced with a new battery.... the writing is on the wall.
I intentionally bought the S3 when the S4 was the "new" version because of the reliability of the S3. The S4 was an unknown. Look what happened with the version-7 of one of their pieces of kit. Obviously the S3 will go defunked before the S4, or the S5. I know it and I knew it when I bought it.

It's good to wait til they get the bugs worked out of something before you buy for sure.

[Witsend]

It's good to wait til they get the bugs worked out of something before you buy for sure.
Reply With Quote

What's wrong with tossing the innards, filling it with dirt or sand and using one as an Ant Farm or an Etch a Sketch?

[BMW JEDI]

What's wrong with tossing the innards, filling it with dirt or sand and using one as an Ant Farm or an Etch a Sketch?

One can already do this with a Vantage PRO 8^)

Select ignition scope/parade. Select the button at the bottom right corner of the screen (above the clock) and hold "Y" button down 4-5 seconds. Will turn the Vantage Pro into an Etch-a-sketch. Thumb pad controls the up/down/left/right drawing, and "Y" will clear the screen. "N" to exit.

[Crusty]

All that would be more excepted if the Verus cost maybe $2000.00 vs $10,000 and would also be more excepted if like Wheel said the Verus was struggling to do its job but other than taking a while to boot up once it is there it doesn't struggle to do anything. They are already set up to write the updates so why not keep it going as long as they can. They are losing money from the people that have Verus's and are NOT going to upgrade to the Verus Pro or Edge.

I would see myself for example buying updates for many years as long as they was offered but once I get to a point of needing the extra coverage I am buying a Autel for $2000.00 and not going to feel as taken to the bank when they stop offering updates for it.

Guess my main point is if they are already geared up to write updates why not keep doing as long as people are buying them. After all the Pro is a windows xp OS so are they going to intentionally cripple the updates to not work on a verus.

I do understand what you're saying BUT.....it is WinXP....

Win-XP is....how many versions old now-???? THAT writing is also on the wall, and has been for several years.

XP for any ordinary computer IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED. It IS however supported for another short while for commercial incarnations such as the SnapOn kit that uses it. THAT ain't gonna last much longer.

XP, Win-7, Win-8, now Win-10 is out......

I still have an old DOS program running using Win-98 Dos-shell on a few computers, some new, some old. I use that old software for what it was designed for. I don't expect any more "updates" and haven't for a long while, and I don't bitch about it.

I still have some computers running XP as well. Again, I don't expect any "updates" for them either. I use them within their design limitations and support limitations which is none.

Even running XP in the older Verus, it's days are numbered, so, SnapOn makes the move to go forward to continue to provide us with reliable tools using newer operating systems that ARE, and WILL BE "supported" for the foreseeable future.

Everybody was all smiles and happy when SnapOn went from CE to XP to help us keep current. Now there is bitching and moaning when they do the same thing now that XP is FOUR software versions old. Sorry, I can only agree to a point.

KEEP your older tools, they're still functional. Look into another investment, be it either another SnapOn product or a Chinese offering. One word of warning regarding Chinese ANYTHING. Their entire culture goes back to Sun-Tzu about 2500 years ago. Deceit and deception.
As for anyone claiming my ethnic bias, my MENTOR was Asian so I'm very aware of the history of accepted behavior. My Mentor was honorable. SnapOn is far from the worst company in North America regarding behavior.

[Crusty]

One can already do this with a Vantage PRO 8^)

Select ignition scope/parade. Select the button at the bottom right corner of the screen (above the clock) and hold "Y" button down 4-5 seconds. Will turn the Vantage Pro into an Etch-a-sketch. Thumb pad controls the up/down/left/right drawing, and "Y" will clear the screen. "N" to exit.

LMAO-!! You've got waaaaay to much time on your hands to find THAT-!! LOL

COOL....you don't have to shake it upside down to clear the screen-!!! LOL

[737mechanic]

Their doesn't need to be any support for winxp. Winxp has already proven to be a solid OS as long as the updates are written to be winxp compatible they would work just fine. Winxp could be 30 years out of date and updates could still be written to work just fine with it.

I see what you are saying but just as an example, someone could write a program today that would run perfectly fine in DOS even though Microsoft hasn't supported DOS in years.

Guess I will never buy a snap on product that uses a Microsoft OS.

[Wheel]

I tend to leap frog anything I purchase as I don't feel like being the guinea pig with all the "new & improved" hype. Companies may not like me for that but there is no law that says I have to jump on every new bandwagon just so the board of directors can have their six million dollar salaries.....

Personally I think long term reliability (and company reputation) would be best served by making what IS already there bullet proof, and back-fill the holes or design flaws significantly, before coming out with another "new & improved" model of anything. Most people are well aware that a new model vehicle should be monitored for one or two years before purchasing. Again, companies don't like me for that but dog years of experience proves that it is the safer course.

You said a mouthful here. They would have had a vastly better tool as a result.

The people who jumped all over Windows-8 got a lesson. How about Windows-2000 or Windows-millennium-?? Same thing.

Having only 6-months (one release) heads up seems a bit short for a significant purchase on a 10,000 investment, but the multitude of new models being released was a bit of a warning to anyone paying attention.

A "legacy" support for perhaps a couple of years where someone could get their current piece of kit updated to a certain point would make sense to me. I'm pretty sure the Solus-PRO last release is 16.4. Making 16.4 still available for the Solus-PRO until 17.4 or 18.2 is out for the new platforms would be ideal IMHO, but I'm not running the company. The Solus-Ultra came out and the Solus-Edge came out, so there was a warning of some kind.

I simply cannot stress enough about the B/S trend of EVERYTHING going to "internet based" transactions, support, operational ability, being simply B/S. Those people in the Ivory Tower need to doff their suits and put on their dungarees and get out to the REAL WORLD now and then to keep things in perspective.

No or interrupted internet? you're screwed! A definite reality at times - like you say some people need to get out into the real world for a change - it does exist.

Dropping "updates" for a six year old platform, after 3 or more changes to the platform, doesn't seem horrible, as long as the thing will still plug-in and turn on when I plug it into a 2008 or a 2012 vehicle and FUNCTION for those applications of use.

It does seem horrible given the expense of the units in question, especially if they aren't struggling as their predecessors were. Point is it isn't necessary for these to be discontinued like it was for the older units. They are just being deliberately difficult & uncooperative.

I don't purchase things thinking of "trade-in value". I warn customers about the dealer game of "showing" a great trade-in value on their vehicles, then keeping the purchase price up to cover that mythical high trade-in value. I purchase thing to simply function for what they were designed to do. Yep, I'm an Ol-Fart.

I guess being raised by Depression Era parents puts me at odds with our "throw away" society.