Gamers Choice

After roughly a decade at the top of the home console industry, Sony decided to tackle the portable system market--one heavily fortified by Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and DS. Sony sought to take down Nintendo by adopting the tactic that made the PlayStation 2 such a runaway success: by offering sophisticated, graphically intensive games and a heavy dose of multimedia functionality. The device is called the PlayStation Portable (PSP), and in addition to playing games of PS2 graphical quality, it can play music and movies (downloaded or via disc) and surf the Web. It may not be the best handheld media product on the market, and the games lack the innovation of ones on Nintendo's portables, but as an all-in-one device, the Sony PSP is king of the hill.
From an aesthetic perspective, the Sony PSP is a gorgeous device. It's one of those gadgets you immediately want to get your hands on but vigilantly want to protect once you set it down. Weighing essentially the same as the Nintendo DS (6.2 ounces, including removable battery) and measuring 6.7 by 2.9 by 0.9 inches (WHD), the body feels well built and solid in your hand. Although not a lightweight, it's by no means a brick, nor, we suspect, would it be especially durable in a fall; you'll want to treat the PSP just as gingerly as an iPod or a Palm-style PDA.
The centerpiece of the handheld is its especially impressive 4.3-inch wide-screen display (480x272 pixels, 16.77 million colors). The screen is flanked by controls that will be immediately recognizable to fans of past PlayStations: the directional keypad is to the left of the screen, and the familiar square, triangle, circle, and X buttons are to the right. We dug how Sony managed to include an analog "joystick" below the directional keypad. The stick isn't raised like the analog controls on a PS2 or an Xbox, but it conveys that multidirectional element that gives it a joysticklike feel.
In lieu of the PS2 controller's four total shoulder buttons, the PSP has two: one per shoulder. Ergonomically, the device is OK but not great; as with most handheld gaming devices, you'll have to do a little finger stretching every 15 minutes or so to keep from cramping up.
The PSP uses Sony's recently created "cross media bar" interface. You use the directional keypad to horizontally navigate through Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, and Internet icons, and each section has other icons attached to it on a vertical axis. All in all, it's a simple and elegant way to access the PSP's many features.
Games and officially licensed movies come on Sony's proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc) media, which are housed in protective cartridges. The UMD drive is grafted to the back of the unit; you load it and snap it shut just as you would a camcorder. The top edge also sports infrared and a USB 2.0 port that you can use to link the device to your PC or Mac, though no USB connection cable is included.
The good: The Sony PSP is a slick portable gaming system highlighted by an impressive wide-screen display and PS2-like graphics. It also boasts built-in Wi-Fi, a Web browser, and the ability to play music and videos, as well as to store images.
The bad: The Sony PSP's multimedia functionality is underwhelming, especially for video, requiring expensive memory cards. The load times on the UMD games can be excessive.
The bottom line: The Sony PSP elevates portable gaming to the next level, but its multimedia functionality falls short of its full potential.

PSP is superior

The PSP is amazing. You can connect wireless to the internet, use it as a podcast, read books, watch videos, download videos, listen to music, listen to online radio stations, watch pictures. Do all these things from the device's screen or connect it to your TV with an accessory cable. It has the largest screen and resolution of any portable video game today. Games can be played from the little disks (UMD) or from the memory stick (if you modify the built in firmware) One can run freeware software called hombrew making the device anything the software does. It can act as a graphic scientific calculator, universal remote control, PDA application-like, etc. You can even make on-line phone calls using SKYPE software and an accessory microphone. The internet is full of information to multiply the potential of this device. Accessories include GPS with maps, Video camera, Touch Screen, etc. If you want to just play games this device has the most powerful CPU, best audio and did I mention the screen's resolution? Games can contain up to 1.8 GB of data! compared with 256 MB of Nintendo DS (low CPU power, low screen resolution, low quality audio).
On the negative side. It's not a toy, don't drop it, don't apply pressure to the screen, don't seat on it, don't leave it under the sun or in the bathroom while someone showers. The screen will get scratched eventually. Variety of available games is not as big as Nintendo DS and game choices are more for adults than little children. Having said all these facts. My four year old daughter plays all the time and loves it. does not know how to read but figured out how to use all the basic features: games, movies, pictures, music. I don't let her take it to the daycare or outside the car or house. I bought my unit used from EBAY and we are glad of our choice.

A Great Item. Super Pack

I decide to buy the Sony PSP Daxter Entertainment Pack because it is a limited edition and right now is not available in retail stores. The special thing of this pack is the silver color of PSP Slim and the fact that the pack also brings The Daxter Game and an 1GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo. Their respectively retail price are $25 for the game and $45 for the memory (in Puerto Rico). Hey!! don't forget about The Family Guy Movie

Sony PSP 1001

Here's a product I got as a christmas present for someone else, and kept it for myself, then had to buy another. First thing is that this system is catered to all ages, even my 60 year old mother plays bejeweled on it. Battery limit is about 5 hours without connection to a charger. They made every feature under the sun for it including AV cables for tv hookup, usb cables for ps3 hookup, basic internet, one of the largest array of games of any console or handheld systems currently out. The controls are easy to digest, and if you wanted to watch a movie you could, (personally i would never want to watch a movie on a screen so small) but it is an option for you nonetheless. Now that they have so many kind of models out there, finding an affordable psp is possible, 1001's have a great track record. I have heard some complaints about the newer models, but that just seems like the same kind of issue new phones get when they come out. Older models are always the best.
The screen is sensitive. The only real setback with this system. A screen protector is a must for these portable units, your t-shirt could scratch the surface. Literally.

PSP Silver Daxter Pak

This pak by itself is a great purchase. You get a Silver PSP-2001, AC Adapter, USB mini A cable, The Family Guy UMD, and also Daxter.

The advantages of having a slim over a PSP-1001 (affectionity know as PSP Fat) is that you are able to charge the PSP battery by simply hooking up the USB cable to the device.

Another useful feature is that recently (as in the beginning of 2008), you are able to use Skype with your PSP which is the first native messaging system for the device that I know of (Dont work AFKIM, I know you were the first of any but Skype is the first released by Sony, that works on an unmodified PSP).

If you are looking to hack your PSP, there comes a warning. If you do you are hurting the PSP industry 2 ways. First of all is the simple fact that most if not all people who hack their PSP are not buying games. Secondly it is very easy to "brick" - make the device unusable by corrupting the flash BIOS. Take care if this is your intent for the device.

I would recommend this device to everyone I know as it can serve as an MP3 player, movie player, portable video game device and even web browser.