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Get a HooToo TripMate portable media hub for $31.99

From the Cheapskate: That's even cheaper than the last time I wrote about this killer travel accessory.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
3 min read

CNET's Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.


It was a little over a year ago that I first shared this deal. I liked the looks of the product, the capabilities of the product and the price of the product. Two of those things stayed the same, but one improved considerably. Read on.

I'm a person who likes to travel as light as humanly possible. Like, if I can squeeze the necessary clothes and toiletries into my backpack, I'm overjoyed. Of course, this is difficult when you consider how much gadgetry you need to pack nowadays: mobile charger, travel router and so on.

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HooToo

Multi-function gadgets to the rescue! For a limited time, and while supplies last, Sunvalleytek (via Amazon) has the HooToo TripMate HT-TM05 for $31.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code IK47AXIN at checkout. It normally sells for $39.99, and in fact it was $43.99 (post-discount!) when I wrote about it last year.

The TripMate performs three key duties. For starters, it's a 10,400mAh mobile charger, impressive given its fairly diminutive dimensions and other capabilities.

Next, it's a streaming media hub, able to wirelessly beam music, movies and the like from any attached USB storage (flash drive, hard drive, etc.). That's a huge plus for phone and tablet users who have limited internal space available. You can even plug in a USB hub (not included) for access to up to four devices at once.

Finally, the TripMate handles any and all networking needs: bridge, access point and router. And thanks to the aforementioned hub capabilities, you can use it as a network attached storage (NAS) server as well. That's some serious multi-function goodness right there.

The gizmo measures just 1.6 inches by 1.6 inches by 3.7 inches and weighs 8.8 ounces. It's a cutie, too, a little black-and-red monolith with its ports hidden by rubber covers.

And the reviews! Last time out, just over 100 Amazon buyers had weighed in. As of today, nearly 700 rated it 4.4 stars out of 5.

If you like to travel light but don't want to leave behind any travel essentials, I'd say this is the gizmo to get. Your thoughts?

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Liger

Bonus deal: Want to stick your TV to your wall? You probably don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to have it professionally done. You certainly don't need to spend a lot on the actual mount, as evidenced by this: Rakuten has the Liger flat-screen TV wall mount for $14.99 shipped, one of the lowest prices I've ever seen. It can hold TVs ranging from 30-60 inches and includes a built-in bubble level for easier installation.

Bonus deal 2: A good screen-recording utility can really come in handy, whether it's for demonstration or training purposes or even just preserving a video call. There are some freebie options out here, but why not "go pro" if you can do so on the cheap?

For a limited time, Acethinker is offering Cheapskate readers its Screen Grabber Pro (Win) for just $2.99 for a one-year license. (It's also available for Mac.) Regular price: $29.95. (Ditch the $6.99 download-protection from your shopping cart to get that $2.99 final price.) This comprehensive utility also lets you capture, edit and annotate screenshots and supports scheduled recordings. Update: WHOOPS! Sorry, thought I'd given you the links with the coupon code already embedded. My bad! Please use code cnetbonus at checkout!