My opinion of the Apollo D8

pole71 wrote: I can't say much about the Apollo, yet...I'll give you my opinion on that, when I have one.

Continued from thread:
www.scannerdanner.com/forum/lab-scope-di...anonymous.html#28912

My opinion of the Apollo is not what I had hoped it would be. My biggest complaint is printing out Vehicle Reports/Codes List. With the Verus, you run the scan and print the report. No big deal. Nice and easy. A fast "Here you go." for the customer. (I also attach a copy to the invoice, in the computer. It makes following a vehicle history very easy, detailed and accurate.) So, this is something I do. Something I don't want to stop doing.

Have you ever seen Paul get frustrated over the Verus Scope cursor change? :dry: This is how I have been feeling about Printing/Saving Vehicle reports. :evil:

They have made something that should be effortless a real PITA! You CANNOT print ANYTHING from the tool. When you do a scan, IF you click/tap the "save" icon, it will UPLOAD the report the CLOUD. Now, you must go to a PC/Laptop and Login to the CLOUD, DOWNLOAD the report in .PDF format. THEN you can print from the .PDF. .....REALLY?...ridiculous. The tool has WIFI. My Printer has WIFI. Why can't I click/tap a "PRINT" icon on the tool and just print?

Okay, so it's a pain in the @ss to print but, at least, it can be done, right? Well, maybe, not. Today I had a 2000 Buick Le sabre. This vehicle does not support the "SCAN ALL MODULES" feature so, guess what? Vehicles that don't support the "SCAN ALL MODULES" features don't even UPLOAD to the CLOUD. If you want to print, you have to take the scanner to the PC/Laptop an get out the USB cable and Shopstream Connect it. (as with ALL test drive movies...no WIFI transfer).

The "Intelligent Diagnostics", I'm still undecided. It's very nice having, possibly, relevant TSB's presented upon code scan. That, I like. But, so far, I haven't found it that useful.

My overall opinion of the Apollo is that I would trade it in for a Verus Edge, in a heartbeat...and never use the labscope.

So, today, my Dealer comes in (a day early) and asks me how I like the Apollo. Long story short, I now have a Zeus :whistle: (on a trial period). I, really, like it, so far. But, I would like a Verus Edge, just as much, I think.

pole71 wrote: Okay, so it's a pain in the @ss to print but, at least, it can be done, right? Well, maybe, not. Today I had a 2000 Buick Le sabre. This vehicle does not support the "SCAN ALL MODULES" feature so, guess what? Vehicles that don't support the "SCAN ALL MODULES" features don't even UPLOAD to the CLOUD. If you want to print, you have to take the scanner to the PC/Laptop an get out the USB cable and Shopstream Connect it. (as with ALL test drive movies...no WIFI transfer).

Disappointing. I do code scans and save data on just about every car I touch, so I was kinda intrigued with the Cloud function when I first heard about it. Missed opportunity by Snap On.

If you're into the features and conveniences of the cloud (I am not), you may have a greatly differed opinion than me. It offers to send emails to customers containing links to the scans and reports. Nice feature, if you do email invoicing, or fleet work. I see potential in some of the other features, too. But, right now, for the era of cars I work on (Out of warranty), the information it offers is "No information available". I can see the "Intelligent Diagnostics" improving with age.

Our shop was a fairly early adopter of a Zeus with the....diagnostics. Still waiting on that extra diagnostic stuff to become useful. After about two years now. It's either "nothing found" or lots of help for something obvious no one should need help with. Or just dumb stuff. Very rarely is there any transmission related help. If there is something, it will be like "replaced transmission" for a speed sensor code. There's a lot of throwing an entire transmission at ANY such problems.

We got into that three year update deal. I have no doubt it will be let expire, as many times as the boss has yelled about how useless it is.

GypsyR wrote: We got into that three year update deal. I have no doubt it will be let expire, as many times as the boss has yelled about how useless it is.

My dealer to me that the subscription was/is REQUIRED for the ZEUS to function.

With the Apollo, he says, if you decide you don't want the "Intelligent Diagnostics", and stop the subscription, the the scanner will continue to work. "It will be just like the SOLUS".

But, he says, the ZEUS, will not load vehicle data without the subscription, or an active internet connection.

Chad wrote: My dealer to me that the subscription was/is REQUIRED for the ZEUS to function.

With the Apollo, he says, if you decide you don't want the "Intelligent Diagnostics", and stop the subscription, the the scanner will continue to work. "It will be just like the SOLUS".

But, he says, the ZEUS, will not load vehicle data without the subscription, or an active internet connection.

I asked "What about test drives, losing internet?" He said that as long as you don't shut down, or try to change vehichles, It will be fine. The information will be loaded before you leave, and will remain active. But, if you loose power, or try to switch vehicles, it won't load the data.

Well, I simply took his word for it. This factor, alone, has made me decide NOT to upgrade to the Zeus. I have one in the shop, right now, that I am trying out..:blink: ..I....have one.....right...here. :blink: :huh: :blush: ...hold on. BRB.

So, I just disabled the internet and, as expected, the 'Intelligent Diagnostics" are gone. BUT, the scanner still functions as a Verus would. :woohoo:
My dealer mis-informed me.

Chad wrote: So, I just disabled the internet and, as expected, the 'Intelligent Diagnostics" are gone. BUT, the scanner still functions as a Verus would. :woohoo:
My dealer mis-informed me.

Eh, maybe he was misinformed by someone else? :huh: I really appreciate most of my tool dealers, but a lot of the questions I ask about scanners are over their heads. :silly:

If you're into the features and conveniences of the cloud (I am not), you may have a greatly differed opinion than me. It offers to send emails to customers containing links to the scans and reports.

Nah, I agree, I don't see a ton of value in the cloud functionality. Most of my customers are not interested in the codes list, and wouldn't be impressed if I showed them.

Tyler wrote: Eh, maybe he was misinformed by someone else? :huh: I really appreciate most of my tool dealers, but a lot of the questions I ask about scanners are over their heads. :silly:

Agreed. I'm sure it wasn't intentional. My Snap on guy is great.

Nah, I agree, I don't see a ton of value in the cloud functionality. Most of my customers are not interested in the codes list, and wouldn't be impressed if I showed them.

I give them a print out and, and digitally attach it to the invoice in the computer. Not to impress, although sometimes it does. I do it to record the history of the customer/vehicle.

To be sure, your dealer is badly misinformed. Without an active subscription a Zeus is every bit as functional as an up to date Verus Edge. Which is all it is anyway. Oh, with a couple of extra diagnostic buttons that won't work. Not that they are actually useful anyway.
We were an early adopter of a Zeus. Sadly. The three year update subscription was always optional but they pushed it really hard.

i had they Apollo i liked it .upgraded to the Zeus i wish i would have stayed with the Apollo and bought a pico scope.guided components is always unavailable.just my 2 cents

Does the Zeus display more data that the Apollo on the same page?
I've got an old Verus and a Solus #something#, and love that there Solus is faster with no keys but miss having a bunch of pids and being able to graph only one if I wish like I can with the Verus

The maximum number of pids you can view on the Apollo is 8.

I don't have the Zeus here, anymore, but I think its maximum number of pids that you can view at once is the same as the Verus, which is 22.

The maximum number of graphs, on the Apollo, is 4.

The maximum number of graphs, on the Verus, is 16.