Help choosing diagnostic kit please.

[Encrypted Existence]

Hello all. I am in the market for a diagnostic kit. I am looking at Ultra X as they have just included bootable tools to diagnose apple computers in their kits. The other one that I am looking at is PC Doctor. I have seen posts regarding PC Doctor but I have not come across anything involving Ultra X. Is there anyone out there that has experience using Ultra X products? To any readers using diag kits can you please let me know what you are using and what the pros and cons of the product are please? Any insight will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RichmondTech]

Since you have already read the PC Doctor threads I will not rehash my experience with the product.

 

[Screwloose]

I used Ultra X at a job I had about 5 years ago ... The software diags are pretty good ( memory, mobo, video etc ) I found that it did great stress tests but other than that I dont think it was worth the price.

I think we paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200.00 for just the software.

For the money I would not rely on these testing suites ... I rarely used the Ultra X after testing it for about a month .... bottom line - your better off spending the money elsewhere.

 

[RichmondTech]

I used Ultra X at a job I had about 5 years ago ... The software diags are pretty good ( memory, mobo, video etc ) I found that it did great stress tests but other than that I dont think it was worth the price.

I think we paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200.00 for just the software.

For the money I would not rely on these testing suites ... I rarely used the Ultra X after testing it for about a month .... bottom line - your better off spending the money elsewhere.

You're conflicting statements makes things confusing to me. You have positive comments about the diagnostic tests and stress testing, but say you would not rely on them and offer no alternative.

 

[tempusfugit]

You're conflicting statements makes things confusing to me. You have positive comments about the diagnostic tests and stress testing, but say you would not rely on them and offer no alternative.

memtest86 found on ubuntu and hirens for free for memory
smart or crystal or manufacturer tools for free for hdd
furmark for testing video cards(or a test video card for no video), again, free
you should already have a multimeter, but p/s testers are dirt cheap, and a test unit is sometimes the only way to get a 100% answer.

If everything else tests good, its the motherboard.

Any real tech shouldn't rely solely on software for diagnosing bad parts, and certainly shouldn't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for it. I know geek squad uses some overpriced diagnostic suite and the horribly incorrect diagnoses I've seen after their stab in the dark at it makes you wonder how they are in business still..

 

[16k_zx81]

Any real tech shouldn't rely solely on software for diagnosing bad parts, and certainly shouldn't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for it.

I didnt read anywhere here that anyone was proposing on relying on software as a sole means of performing diagnostics tasks.

Actually, it may be interesting for others to know that "real men dont eat quiche"... so they can avoid this embarrassment too.

 

[tempusfugit]

I didnt read anywhere here that anyone was proposing on relying on software as a sole means of performing diagnostics tasks.

Actually, it may be interesting for others to know that "real men dont eat quiche"... so they can avoid this embarrassment too.

Now that's just preposterous.. Quiche is delicious.

Sorry if I inferred too much.. If I was going to spend 1200 dollars on a piece of software, I would expect it to tell me everything wrong with a computer, automatically fix it, and make me dinner(maybe even a quiche, but that may be asking a bit much)

 

[Encrypted Existence]

Now that's just preposterous.. Quiche is delicious.

Sorry if I inferred too much.. If I was going to spend 1200 dollars on a piece of software, I would expect it to tell me everything wrong with a computer, automatically fix it, and make me dinner(maybe even a quiche, but that may be asking a bit much)

The diag kits I am looking into purchasing are only about half that price. Still a pretty penny but that's why I asked my original question...because I am willing to pay that amount if it is worth it. I like the idea of customized reports to show my customers and no doubt it would make my company come off as more professional as opposed to just explaining whatever issues/problems I may find. Not to mention that I tend to forget things sometimes . Anyways, I am torn between Ultra X and PC Doctor. I am leaning more towards PC Doctor but apparently Ultra X does lower level testing (uses native assembly as opposed to DOS), and adds the Mac diag capabilities. Thanks for the replies.