Best USB dongle for iD L downloads?

Ive searched online but haven't found much on this topic. I have a pair of iD L's coming in the mail. I'd like to use an infrared usb dongle to transfer the downloads from my pc to the tama. Phones are way too pricey for this so I refuse to go that route. I'm not spending 40+ dollars to have some pixelated clothes for my tama to wear. I've seen people say that infrared usb dongles didn't work for them, while others say it works just fine. I'm not looking for comments from the people it hasn't worked for. I'm looking for a suggestion on which specific usb dongle to get from someone that has one that works. Any suggestions?

Are old IR phones really that expensive in the US? Like, for real? 40$? That's... way too much? I got mine for free from a friend and you can get them for 10$ or so in pawn shops/GSM stores...

Sorry though, I don't know of a dongle that works, I've only heard of them not working, so I never bothered. The biggest problem is that most dongles don't work on modern PCs at all because of incompatible drivers and IR frequency.

I tried the dongle route but the compatibility thing with the computer and the dongle was not so easy to deal with that I ended up finding an old phone on ebay.... But if you do your googling and look at different ones and compare brands and compatibility and such I am sure you will find the one that works for you!

Yes, 40$ for pixel clothes is too much. To me, that's an absolute waste of money. Thanks for the replies. I'll keep snooping around to see if I can find one that works.

Maybe when you have parents to throw loads of money at you it isn't a big deal. Try having a mortgage lol

...Well, a lot of people in the Tamagotchi community are in their 20s and even 50s, I'm sure they know how it feels to have a mortgage and buy their own stuff. It's not just kids here, believe me.

I pay for my college by myself and buy my tamas as well.

Not sure who that was directed to but I did say that 40$ is too much. Because I was surprised since I've only seen phones like this go for no much more than 10$, sometimes people even give them away for free. I live in Poland and here still most people use phones like this rather than smartphones so they're pretty commonplace.

Imo, it's not very cost effective to buy something and not consider what options you have to get things onto it first. Most people will tell you that dongles just not work, at least on modern PCs, but even on compatible PCs it was a laborous process for most people.

You did say 40 was too much lol. You made a pretty big deal out of me saying 40$ is too much. Im not spending 40$ on a phone for a tamagotchi. I don't really care if you think 40$ is too much or not. I didn't make this post to be picked on about how much I'm willing to spend. I'll look elsewhere for advice. Thanks anyways.

You didnt* say 40 was too much

...No, I didn't. You didn't understand my post.

Jhud said:

Are old IR phones really that expensive in the US? Like, for real? 40$? That's... way too much?

Click to expand...

I'm not asking you here if you really think 40$ is way too much (as if, mocking you- I guess you could have read it as that). I'm just expressing my bewilderment/surprise by the fact that that's how much phones cost there, because as I said, I've never seen an used IR phone costing more than 10$ or being given away for free. I guess I shouldn't have put "?"'s there, that might have made it confusing. English is not my first language. So I apologize for the confusion.

Not wanting to pay 40$ is totally fair and I understand that, I wouldn't pay that much for mine. But there just aren't many other options unless you find a cheaper one or try your luck with the dongles... That is even less worth it in my opinion. Because dongles aren't even much cheaper and it's a lottery with them. They cost... around 50$ sometimes. The cheap ones for like 2$? They're remote adapters, they won't work with an iDL no matter how much you try, because what you need is IR transfer, not controller.

Precisely I paid $20 with shipping (I'm in Canada) and I didn't did it just for my IDLs I did it so I could english patch my Ps and use the VDPs that Mister Blinky and his team have been working on and play around with the downloads on the ID as they have some gorgeous wallpapers and some fan made ones that are harry potter themed

I wouldn't pay $40 for an old phone for the one use which is why I would pay more for the NFC phones for 4U compatibility

For what it's worth I put a lot of time and effort into finding a dongle about five years ago and like everyone is saying it was nearly impossible to work. I would say 9/10 tries at connections failed. I have done a LOT of searching on this topic lately. I recently started up a Ps and am going crazy without download abilities. I don't even have another Tama to connect it to!

I believe me Blinky said that you need windows 7 or before! Now you're talking about seriously downgrading a computer.

With my past experience I would say an older phone is basically the only way to get it done.

Maybe we can find used ones online that are guaranteed unlocked.

How much did your dongle cost? Because I can only find ones that cost around 50$, the cheaper ones are usually just remote control extensions which wouldn't work.

Years ago when I bought it was only $5.99 but I searched for about an hour last week and couldn't find any that send AND receive for less than like $30, it's just not used much anymore I think NFC is kinda pushing that tech into the past.

Yeah, those things were invented to send things between phones and computers that used IR. Nowadays it's easier to use bluetooth or even just an USB cable or even a cloud service.