I will start by explaining that I must admit to having NO knowledge of this sort of stuff and I will probably be using the wrong terms because of this but.......
I just got a used laptop for a decent deal just so I could eventually hook it up to my ALDL plug in my car(87 Monte SS w/TPI installed from an 88 Iroc) I did add the extra pins to the Monte ALDL and hook them up accordingly to mimmick the 88 Iroc one.
I understand this is something that has probably been gone over a million times, but i have absolutely NO knowledge of how to do this and what all I need to get so please don't get too bummed at me for asking.
I would imagine that I would need a cable and some kind of software to 'read' my car's functions. Is there anything else needed and what is the best way to obtain these things? Is the software something that a person could get in a affordable or even FREE way?
I noticed a while back that someone was selling a cable and software for $150, but is that really a good deal? Seems like it was a bit steep to me, but IDK.
Basically, I want to hook up a laptop to my car and get a readout on what is happening and see if everything is functioning as it should be. Is there any software that is more liked/popular than others.
Prices?
Thanks for those who can point or even shove me in the right direction!

 

Software, TunerPro RT
http://www.tunerpro.markmansur.com/

Cable
http://www.moates.net/product_info.p...roducts_id=127

That will get you hooked up to see whats going on. If you want to tune you WILL need more hardware.

Read the stickies, most people want ot jump right in and snap their fingers but it doesn't work that way. This stuff is not hard to do but you have to learn so read, read, read. oh, and read some more.

 

and don't forget to read

 

As DSmith mentioned, the stickies are very helpful. Like you, I have absolutely zero experience with tuning. So recently I started reading thru the stickies. After going over them a few times and downloading and toying withTunerpro RT, I am starting to learn the terminology and feel pretty confident that once I actually hook up, I'll understand some of what is going on. Good Luck!!!

 

Thanks guys.
I will read as much as I can, then read it again until it starts to make a little more sense. I was wondering about downloading some software and trying to 'play' with it in the hopes of learning a little more(mostly the terms-like mentioned by GTA90X) before I actually start investing alot of money and finding that it is all beyond my abilities. It seems that is in fact possible(to just download and learn-go from there).
Well, I'm off to read.....thanks again!