What is the difference between a piggy-back programmer and a stand-alone programmer?
A piggy-back programmer is meant to interface with your factory ECU. A stand-alone programmer is meant to replace your factory ECU. Is a power programmer the same as a computer chip? It accomplishes the same thing as an aftermarket computer chip. The difference is that power programmers are made to interface with your existing factory computer chip, and are generally only available for more modern vehicle. For older generation vehicles, aftermarket computer chips are available that directly replace your factory ECU. Even though technically a programmer is not a computer chip per se, they both accomplish the same thing, and many people sometimes loosely use the word computer chip to refer to a programmer.
