[ischmitz]

The scanners are falling into three groups:

1. on the lowest end of the scale is the laptop solution that was featured on Rennlist. Do a search for "scantool" or something similar. Some guys made a simple interface (level converter) and wrote a scanning software. It is free and you can built it yourself. It does very basic fault code reading and actual value reading. Not sure where the project stands right now.

2. This is where the Durametric and maybe some others come in. These solutions have lots functionality of the factory tools and they are reasonably priced for the hobby mechanic.

3. Factory scanners such as Bosch Hammer (up to early 993), PST2 (up to Cayenne, 997) and PIWIS (all but Panamera), PWIS-2 (just released). The older tools can be found used. The more recent versions command hefty price tags.

That's a short summary - let me know if you need more specific information.

Cheers,
Ingo