how about this explanation...

K-Pro is simply the program. a Factory ECU with another company's chips are needed to run K-Pro on a K series ECU. The Hardware is still Honda, as is the Actual code that gets sent out. Where as with a "true" stand alone, every bit of hardware including the case, conncetors and everything in the unit is put their for the purpose of it being a stand alone engine management. One could say that you are using the K-Pro program as a piggyback on the Honda hardware(ECU) for the original Honda programming.