Which PSP to buy?

[thespeakerbox]

Im sick of my nintendo DS and want to sell it to buy a PSP. I've seen tons of post about firmware and different PSP models. Is there a particular type I should avoid?

Also besides playing games, what else can you do with a PSP. Is it hackable at all?

What games do you like?

 

[ksaajasto]

hey.
because of the whole (first time thing)
i would have to suggest going with the psp slim, get the package that includes daxter, cause that's a pretty awesome game too. but the slim is lighter, brighter, slimmer, etc.

but if you are still wondering which one you should buy, you should think about whether or not you will use the video output. because that is the only awesome feature that changed from the original psp.

as for the whole hackability thing, i don't know too much about that, so someone else will have to help you with that.

i hope this helps

KS

 

[Aikouka]

Hacking is quite prevalent on the original PSP model and is quite possibly the best move anyone can do for their model. It seems a bit daunting to do at first, but it's actually quite a simple procedure that can be as simple as abusing a flaw in the XMB (one deals with TIFF pictures if I remember correctly) or a flaw in a game (Lumines 1 has a flaw that they use to run their own code). This is kind of reminiscent of the XBOX's soft-modding with James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire using the game save hack.

The hack will allow you to play ISOs of your own games (or technically also illegal copies), it will allow you to play PS1 games on the PSP. It also allows emulators and homebrew applications.

I would say one of the strongest areas for the PSP is actually the modability.

 

[Czar]

www.psp3d.com


get katamari and locoroco, best psp games out there
daxter is crap, streets of london is CRAP, gta is pretty good

I bricked my first psp, not modding the current one

 

[xcript]

Custom firmware makes the PSP so much more versatile. Any classic PSP can be downgraded to fw1.5 then upgraded to 3.52M33 thanks to "Pandora's Battery" (requires someone who already has custom firmware installed to create the special battery/memstick combo for you, but no extra hardware is needed). There's even CFW (3.60M33) for the just-released slim.

As for games, I've been playing Worms: Open Warfare 2 quite a bit recently (just came out). It's really fun (unlike the first one), and supports online play.

 

[thespeakerbox]

I plan on purchasing soon but noticed that the slim comes out Oct 1st. Do you think its worth the upgrade?

 

[xcript]

It's worth the upgrade if you think you'll make use of the TV-out and/or want a lighter unit.

Personally, I prefer the thicker classic. I have fairly long fingers and holding it properly is tricky enough as it is. I still have my original Gameboy and prefer it to the newer ones (pocket/colour/micro) for this reason.

There's also a chance you'd be able to downgrade an original PSP without needing Pandora's Battery, etc. depending on the firmware version (the lower the better) it comes with. With the slim there's no way but Pandora.

You should probably check them both out in person and see which you prefer.

 

[Adn4n]

Just buy a PSP on ebay that has firmware 1.5 installed on it and you can upgrade that to custom firmware. It's what I did. Back in the day it was much easier to brick(Destroy) your psp than it is now with the Lumines 1 exploit. Besides, with the new PANDORA battery you can unbrick your PSP should you happen to mess something up.

 

[thespeakerbox]

Reviews on amazon for the silver slim say most of the weight was probably taken out because of the cheaper plastic used on the machine and the cheaper redesign of the umd door.

The only real thing that would probably make me want a slim would be the screen, if it really is improved. Reviews praise the screen for being brighter and just looking better, but I think I'll wait till someplace like engadget actually confirms it.

With the firmware hacks on the old machines, can you do usb charge?

 

[xcript]

You can't charge via the USB port if that's what you mean, but there are USB chargers that go from the PC's USB port -> DC port on PSP. You can even hack together your own quite easily: http://www.angelfire.com/games...nce/pspusb/pspusb.html

 

[Ephemeral]

I sold my original brick and went out and bought the silver package deal. It comes with Daxter, Family Guy: The Freakin' Sweet Collection (Five episodes), and a 1gb memory stick (Nice upgrade from the original 32mb my original PSP came with).

Personally I find it to be a big upgrade, I like the reduced weight, and the rounded edges are a big plus. On the original one the edges would rub my fingers due to the way I hold the system, and it was very annoying. Also the choice to move the wireless switch was a huge plus, I was always hitting that stupid thing beforehand.

The screen is a bit brighter, which isn't a huge deal considering the black level is still pretty bad. It is also, at least to me, noticeably sharper than the original PSP. The response time of the lcd also seems a tad faster, but I wish they would have gone with a faster panel to reduce the trailing that still happens with darker images.

The battery life is about the same, but it does charge quicker than the original ones.

I'm not sure if its just me or not, but I think the load times are quicker on the new system. I don't have the original one to compare them so I can't confirm this.

The TV out is a nice feature, and it doesn't look all that bad, similar to watching a SD DVD. It is a nice option for playing games if you're at home and sit reasonably close to your TV. You do have to buy the cable to use it unfortunately (I think it would really tip the scales for some people if they were to include it). The ear-buds are also not included in the new package, if you care about that, I thought the original ones were terrible anyways.

Overall its a good buy for newcomers, and if you can offload your old one, I would say it is worth getting.

I would recommend getting Jeanne D'Arc with it, really great turn-based RPG. So far I like it more than FF: Tactics, and I've been playing it almost non-stop since I picked it up.

 

[xcript]

Originally posted by: Ephemeral
I'm not sure if its just me or not, but I think the load times are quicker on the new system. I don't have the original one to compare them so I can't confirm this.

The slims have a "UMD cache" which is supposed to speed things up a bit.

ISOs are still way faster though, AFAIK.

 

[vacuuum]

ISOs would definitely be faster since there is no physical reading being done.