X

Get a HooToo TripMate portable media hub for $43.99

This cool-looking travel companion doubles as a Wi-Fi router and triples as a mobile charger.

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
2 min read

hootoo-tripmate-ht-tm05.jpg
HooToo

Most people like to travel as light as possible, which is difficult when you consider how much gadgetry you need to pack nowadays: mobile charger, travel router and so on.

All-in-ones to the rescue! For a limited time, and while supplies last, Sunvalleytek (via Amazon) has the HooToo TripMate HT-TM05 for $43.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code URTP8HJW at checkout. Regular price: $59.99.

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 multifunction goodness right there.

It may look bigger in photos, but the gizmo measures just 1.6 inches by 1.6 inches by 3.7 inches and weighs 8.8 ounces. It's a beauty, too, a sexy little black-and-red monolith with its ports hidden by rubber covers.

And the reviews! Just over 100 Amazon buyers rated it 4.8 stars out of 5. (Suspicious, I looked for any evidence of "I got this free for leaving a five-star review," and found none.) I definitely recommend reading them, though, as they address a couple limitations with regard to setup, storage compatibility (no support for ExFAT) and using it with a Chromecast (which you can do, solving a common hotel-room headache!).

Much as I'd love to have one of these, $60 just feels a little high. But $43.99? Now we're talking. Your thoughts?

Bonus deal: It's the return of the $30 Wi-Fi laser printer! For a limited time, and while supplies last, Newegg once again has the Pantum P2502W wireless laser printer for $29.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code EMCASKN38 at checkout. There are a few caveats, of course, including the limited availability of replacement toner cartridges. I highly recommend perusing the user reviews (which average out to four stars out of five) as well as the reader comments from the last time I shared this deal. As long as you know what you're getting, this is an amazing buy.