Scouring the web often has unexpected surprises and I tripped over one earlier this afternoon on Harvey Norman’s website. The D Link Micro USB TV Tuner for a mere $15 (limited to one per customer) while stocks last.
I say while stocks last because at that price they’ll sell pretty quickly and with the age of the device, it’s fair to say that Harvey’s likely only have a small amount of stock if they’re limiting customer purchases. This isn’t the first time that they’ve been put out on special either.
Last September a number of the Ausdroid team took up the offer and it’s a handy piece of kit. While there are some limitations on the software functionality – the app doesn’t work on devices running Android 7.0+ – the tuner itself is very simple to use. It’s a microUSB connection, so if you’re rocking a USB-C connector on your phone, you may experience issues.
I’ve found the tuner quite useful when travelling to keep an eye on the local news or for entertainment, so it may be just the thing if you have this sort of requirement.
What are your must have tech gadgets when you’re on the road?
I bought one of these based on this article. I was impressed with the ease of setup and the performance of the tiny loop antenna. Battery life, understandably, is less exciting. This works as advertised, highly rated for gadget geeks and free-to-air addicts.
The other side of this is these days anyone can just install the Freeview app and stream TV without mucking about with dongles and aerials. With a good WiFi connection you would not bother with an external tuner. Even on the go if you have a big data allowance. The day of a TV tuner in a computer has long past. But I can see a few people could use this if Internet or reception was limited.
My brother and I got one each last time it was on sale and should have gotten more so will see if there are any left locally. Interesting that it does not work on 7.0 but I think that is probably as the official software has not been touched in years? I know there are a few other apps that seem to work with the device but I have not tried it on a 7.0 device yet as I am still waiting for the update for my X Play.