Customer Reviews

Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent choice for fans of the show (old or new series). Non-fans might be eventually irritated by the whooshing noise when it connects... perhaps not even "eventually" irritated. Fans (like the friend to whom I gave this as a birthday present) seem to love it.

The really remarkable thing-- and one that wasn't entirely clear from the product description-- is that it's a powered USB hub. (Complete with US-compatible power source, notwithstanding it being an import.) It's rare to find a themed accessory that's fairly reasonably priced just for its primary function. If this were a Millennium Falcon hub, it would cost twice as much and come with footage of Greedo shooting first. I highly recommend the Tardis hub.

Incidentally, I mentioned that the power source wasn't clear from the listing. Amazon seems to have 3 listings for Tardis USB hubs, all of which seem to be for the same powered product (each with its own ASIN for some reason), although only one of the listings advertises it as such.

(10/2011 EDIT: Fair warning for anyone who is specifically looking for the Tardis as it appeared during the 10th Doctor's travels, as seen in the product picture - the hub being shipped now is detailed to look like the 11th Doctor's ride: White window frames, dark glass, St. John's Ambulance decal on front door.)

This is a awesome little USB hub! It's not going to mean much to a non Whovian - I mean it looks like an old fashioned UK emergency phone booth. But for those who are and plug it in, the fading blue light and the distinctive sound will bring a smile to their faces.

The TARDIS is OS agnostic and worked on a PC, MAC and a Linux notebook. It's not stated on or in the packaging, but it also works with high speed USB 2.0 devices without the dreaded warning that you have a low speed device plugged in.

When devices are plugged in, or the phone booth information sign is pressed, the light fades in and out and the sound of the TARDIS is triggered. The sound can be turned off by flipping a switch in the back, but the light will still fade in and out when devices are attached.

The downer for this item is that it is a powered USB hub, but it comes without the power adapter. It will need a 500mA 7.5v DC adapter. This is printed in raised letters on the back of the TARDIS near the sound switch, and noted on the back of the box. The product insert inside the box says differently however, apparently a throwback to a time when the power supply was indeed included.

This takes me back to my childhood, late Saturday night, squinting at the poor reception of the only old TV in the house that could pick up the signal for the public TV station in NJ that aired Dr. Who. I love it!

The four port hub works good under windows and linux (Ubuntu). I use the four port hub for my mp3 players, printer port, and memory stick. Important note, you cannot use this product for USB external-hard drives. Overall, I enjoy the product very much. I love the flashing light and that Tardis sound. This would be a great present for a Dr. Who fan who needs four port hub.

In researching which TARDIS USB hub to order, I read and so appreciated all the reviews entered by the many TARDIS USB hub users. It was still confusing though because there were so many different manufacturers' offerings. I realized too there was a great chance that people were entering reviews under product numbers that they hadn't necessarily ordered - a TARDIS USB hub looks like a TARDIS USB hub. So, I tracked down the manufacturers of the various products offered to try to make an informed decision. This is my way of thanking all the people who provided such great information for me.

If this one unit is the "old" TARDIS version (i.e., Doctors 9/10 Version) which some people preferred (because it supposedly had lights around the white police sign at the top of the windows and the newer version does not), then according to the distributor it is at least 5 years old. I don't know that the age of the unit will affect the performance, but given that some reviewers have reported performance problems, the age could be a factor. I checked out Amazon's supplier of this unit, J.D. PowerSellers, who sells their products at EmporiumShopping.com. J.D. PowerSellers distributes the 2 eligible TARDIS hubs available (at the time of review) for PRIME shipping ($29.00 and $35.99) made by Doctor Who, which is a private label made by Wesco. The $29.00 TARDIS model sells for $26.95 + s/h on EmporiumShopping.com and J.D.PowerSellers has clearly marked the product's age as being "AT LEAST 60 MONTHS OLD". That's why this received 4 stars instead of the full 5 stars that the fun quotient should otherwise guarantee.

Please be aware when ordering the TARDIS USB hub, if you choose the $29.00 offering on Amazon, it will be one of the 5-yr old products clearly labeled on the EmporiumShopping.com website (and Wesco's). Check it out for yourself. The other manufacturers of TARDIS USB hubs are ComputerGear and UndergroundToys. The "new" TARDIS has the round, white St. John's ambulance phone number on the right-hand door - which I didn't realize when I first wrote the review. MEA CULPA! And, yes, I am sufficiently chagrined. Anyway, just be advised about the possibility of ordering older units. I am a devoted Amazon customer and I love their service, quick delivery, prices, etc. However, I do think they should be more upfront about the true age of this product, but they may not have known about it.

A wonderful item for the Whovian, with a surprising amount of detail in the casting. It has held up fine for the month since I purchased it so nothing to add to other reviews on that front. There are many versions available here, and I selected the one from KyozEntertainment, fulfilled by Amazon, as the best balance between price and non-Amazon vendor. The item was shipped the same day I ordered it and arrived well packed and damage free.

However, let's talk about the techy stuff... As another reviewer noted, and this is a biggie, the unit is a proper USB hub since I no longer get those annoying "Get higher performance using a faster port" from Windows XP whenever something is attached to the hub. I've had 2 other hubs in the past and even though they were self-powered and supposedly supported USB 2.0, XP would always pop that message in the status bar when attaching cameras, iPad or iPods. The good news is the TARDIS does provides true USB 2.0 throughput speeds. The only hurdle left for this hub was to find the proper power supply, since it's hard to tell from the many versions of this available on Amazon if any of them indeed come with a power supply. This one did not, as I suspected.

To get the proper power supply, I worked closely with an EBay seller named CenyGlobal that claims to have power supplies for everything. After a few e-mails with their very responsive customer service reps, they came up with the exact power supply needed:

Plug: 3.5mm O.D, 1.3mm I.D., Negative Outside
Voltage: 7.5VDC
Current: 500mA minimum

They charged less than $20, including shipping, and getting a custom sized power supply allows the desktop to remain un-cluttered since I don't have some spidery bundle of plug adapters hanging off the back of the TARDIS hub. At my suggestion, CenyGlobal is now listing the proper adapter on EBay for others to purchase as "Global AC Adapter For Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub Power Supply Cord Home Charge", item #260942299346

The TARDIS now supplies power to charge the batteries in the units that I've plugged into it while syncing, and even with the extra $20 for the power supply, I still say this is one of the best USB hubs available since it allows USB 2.0 throughput without difficulty... and of course, it's bigger on the inside.

Hope that helps!

This is likely the most awesome toy a Whovian can hook up to his computer. When you plug something into it, the lantern on the top lights up and it plays the familiar sound of the Tardis. Wow. There's a demo button (which I just pushed for inspiration [oh yeah]), which really adds to the fun. I'm using this non-powered hub mostly for memory sticks: not sure I'd trust it with larger devices. However, having said that, I have been impressed by the electronics. It loads the stick a good deal faster than my other port. I have no idea why. I don't care. I love this thing.

Length:: 0:19 Mins

Exactly as expected. A must have for any Whovian.

Great detail, in a functioning usb hub with realistic sound effects, that come on at the touch of the door panel or the insertion of a usb device into the hub.
The blue light stays lit as long as the computer is active but when the computer goes to sleep the blue light goes out and comes back on at the activation of the computer.
Powered by the usb connection to the computer there is also an optional a.c. adaptor port on the Tardis. The adaptor is not included.
I was happy enough to order a second one for another computer, but not from this vender. I placed my order on the 13th of Nov and did not receive it until Dec 2.
I called them on the 24th of Nov to find they had forgot to ship my order.
No compensation was offered for the prolong shipping period.
Other than that I am happy with this item.

This is a USB hub which has to be connected to a power source to work.
Either your computer or a electrical outlet.
It is fully functional and a great conversation piece for a office desk.
There are four USB connects.
I have an external hard drive a camera, scanner and DVD burner hooked up to mine.
Everything shows up under my computer as a separate drive.
Disguised as the Tardis it is an attractive alternative for a otherwise ugly USB hub.
The lights and sound effects are both bright and clear.
Yes it sounds exactly like the Tardis.
It faithfully recreates the dematerialization sound to a note.
I doubt if anyone would buy this to use as a toy and listing it in the toy section is misleading advertising.
I am happy with mine and would recommend this hub to anyone who likes the concept of the Tardis,
NOTE: The price of this hub rising fast. I doubt if they will go down in price anytime soon.

pretty nifty item. i am a dr who fan and i needed a USB hub so this worked out just nicely. couple of things to think about before buying this:
1) mine did NOT come with a power supply. to be honest if you are just connecting stuff like a mouse or a powered device you probably wont need a power supply. i have a powered external hard drive and a cell phone charging cable hooked up and it runs just fine.
2) the whooshing noise is LOUD. no volume control means it STAYS loud. i will turn it on occasionally but more or less i just like the look and the light flashing is cool
3) if you hook up your cell phone or certain other devices that refresh regularly (like a wireless mouse) then it will act like it is reconnecting every time the device refreshes. example: when i had my wireless mouse connected the mouse laser goes "inactive" after a few seconds of not moving so to conserve battery power. every time i would move it after that the TARDIS would reconnect and make the whooshing noise and flash the light. similar thing with my cell phone when it is connected to charge so i turned off the sound. light still flashes which is pretty cool and not annoying.
4) USB transfer speeds are mid range for USB 2.0. ive got it in the 20mbps's when hooked up a 3.0 but if you plan on using all 4 ports and data transfer regularly i suggest getting a better hub or if you really want to keep this toy then make sure it is powered