PSP Playstation Portable

Bigt028

Rear Admiral
ok, i know this is an odd one,,
does anyone know or heard of any reviews on PSP-2000 and PSP-3000
i have the first generation PSP and i really enjoy it, however the newer onces have the ability to plug into the tv (very cool)

so, i have an oportunity to pick one up, but not sure if i should go for the 3000 or just get the 2000.
i know the new one PSPGo will not have the ability to play the UMD's they want you to download games, which is an entire different story altogether...

any thoughts....
 
In my opinion, the 2000 is better. The 2000's screen gets more glare and has some ghosting issues, but the 3000 has major interlacing issues, particularly with 2D games. Then again, the 3000 has a brighter screen and an integrated microphone, so if you want to use the skype feature, you'll want a 3000.

A lot of people mod their PSPs to run things like SNES emulators, but I haven't done that. If that's something you wanted to do, you'd need to get a 2000, the 3000 is, as far as I know, unmoddable.

In my personal opinion, the ability to play PSP games on a TV is very much overrated. The image on the TV is in the PSP's native resolution of 368x207 since the PSP lacks an upscaler. The game will appear in the middle of your screen, surrounded by black borders. If you still want to play games on the TV, I'm going to warn you, the cable is short and you'll need to get the component cable. You can watch videos and listen to music and stuff with the composite cables, but you can't play games with them. Also, you'll need an HDTV capable of progressive scan resolutions.

In any event, the 2000 and 3000 series PSPs have more onboard memory to cache data from UMDs, greatly reducing UMD noise and load times.

To be perfectly honest, the 1000 series PSPs are fine, the tv-out feature really isn't that useful. The only reason to upgrade, in my opinion, is if you are willing to spend that much to reduce load times.
 
Vinman,
this is exactly what i was looking for, thank you, an honest opinion. i appreciate it, i may just stick with the one i have, generation one. it plays well, screen is not scratched and i have a 1GB upgrade memory chip.
any other thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
Vinman,
this is exactly what i was looking for, thank you, an honest opinion. i appreciate it, i may just stick with the one i have, generation one. it plays well, screen is not scratched and i have a 1GB upgrade memory chip.
any other thoughts are greatly appreciated.

No problem!

Oh, you probably know this, but Sony is on a big downloadable game kick, so you'll probably have to get a bigger memory card at some point down the line. Any of the blue ones on this page would be good. In my experience, SanDisk memory cards are a bit faster than Sony ones. $13 for 4GB is a great deal and will last you a while. I got a 4GB memory card from gamedealdaily.com for $9 with free shipping not very long ago. If you don't have a problem waiting, they should probably have a similar deal again.
 
You can't buy a 2000 anymore - all the new PSPs are 3000s.

I have both a PSP-1000 and a PSP-2000. The PSP-1000 feels very solid, but the PSP-2000 feels very cheap and flimsy. That said though, the PSP-2000 has a few advantages (skype, faster UMD drive, more memory/UMD cache, lighter), and better battery life.

The PSP3000's have a screen issue though, as their screen is different than the PSP1k and PSP2k.

I carry my PSP2k around simply because it's easier to replace than my PSP1k. I run custom firmware, and load all my UMDs from memory stick, so I honestly don't know how fast the UMD drive is - my PSP1k does all the game dumping via USB, and I load it and play on the PSP2k.

If you're considering a PSP Go, I'd wait to see first, as there is no UMD drive on it so your old games will be useless (initially). It also takes the much more expensive Memory Stick Micro cards. Sony's announced a game download service that'll convert your UMDs to downloads, but I'll wait to see how it goes. Plus, I'd like to see some custom firmware for it, so maybe I don't have to send in my old UMDs, but can instead put them on the smaller PSP Go myself. (Remember, once it's turned into a downloadable, you can't sell it as a used game anymore).
 
this is all great info, i appreciate it, i think i will stick with my PSP1k
however i do like to idea of dumping all the UMD to a memory stick...interesting

as far as the PSP go, i am not sure if that will actually fly...not having the ability to play existing UMD could upset all thouse (me included) who purchased games for the PSP in the first place...however the idea of a flip up screen to show the keys, gives it a more portable look and feel. i also heard that they are doing away with the second analog stick...now it will be even more difficult to play games....
 
this is all great info, i appreciate it, i think i will stick with my PSP1k
however i do like to idea of dumping all the UMD to a memory stick...interesting

as far as the PSP go, i am not sure if that will actually fly...not having the ability to play existing UMD could upset all thouse (me included) who purchased games for the PSP in the first place...however the idea of a flip up screen to show the keys, gives it a more portable look and feel. i also heard that they are doing away with the second analog stick...now it will be even more difficult to play games....

You're right, the PSP Go is a big risk for Sony, it'll be interesting to see if it works.

I'm kind of confused, what do you mean about doing away with a second analog stick? PSPs have always had one.
 
The PSP Go is a huge risk for Sony.

Think of the good things, first:
* 16GB built-in memory (vs. 0GB on PSP)
* Smaller / possibly better form factor
* Possibly better screen?
* All flash, fast game loads.

But then you see the downsides...
* Expensive expansion memory - Memory Stick Micro is even pricier than memory sticks (which are still pricey compared to SD cards.) Also, you can get big Memory Sticks (16GB are getting into the affordable range, and I think there are even 32GB ones)
* Expensive in general - PSP Go is $250. PSP3k new is under $200.
* No UMD drive. If you have a lot of PSP games, this will be a problem as you have to rely on Sony to do the UMD to download exchange.
* All games are downloadable. Good luck loaning a game to a friend, selling it used, etc.

That said, I may get one, if only to get one with "early firmware" that's buggy. Buggy firmware is good, because once it's hacked to run custom firmware, the last two negatives go away - if I can run my existing games which I have dumped, that's great.

And yes, dumping UMDs to memory stick is great. The PSP runs faster, battery lasts longer, and you can carry a chunk of your game library with you without having to mess with a bunch of UMDs. You can even compress them and store even more of your game library on a 4/8/16GB memory stick.
 
The PSP Go is a huge risk for Sony.

Think of the good things, first:
* 16GB built-in memory (vs. 0GB on PSP)
* Smaller / possibly better form factor
* Possibly better screen?
* All flash, fast game loads.

But then you see the downsides...
* Expensive expansion memory - Memory Stick Micro is even pricier than memory sticks (which are still pricey compared to SD cards.) Also, you can get big Memory Sticks (16GB are getting into the affordable range, and I think there are even 32GB ones)
* Expensive in general - PSP Go is $250. PSP3k new is under $200.
* No UMD drive. If you have a lot of PSP games, this will be a problem as you have to rely on Sony to do the UMD to download exchange.
* All games are downloadable. Good luck loaning a game to a friend, selling it used, etc.

That said, I may get one, if only to get one with "early firmware" that's buggy. Buggy firmware is good, because once it's hacked to run custom firmware, the last two negatives go away - if I can run my existing games which I have dumped, that's great.

And yes, dumping UMDs to memory stick is great. The PSP runs faster, battery lasts longer, and you can carry a chunk of your game library with you without having to mess with a bunch of UMDs. You can even compress them and store even more of your game library on a 4/8/16GB memory stick.

You know... I'm usually pretty good at spotting a potential failure system that won't last long, or will get its ass kicked by the competition. Everyone said I was crazy when I did not invest in the Sega Dreamcast. My parents were surprised when I asked them to return the Nintendo 64 I got for Christmas instead of the PS i asked for. This one will not last and sales of the used older ones will go up. Sony's attempt at doing an online based system is not a good idea. I just don't think the casual gamer is ready to invest in this...
 
my thoughts as well,
if games continue to comeout on disk for the PSP, why create a new system
that does not allow them, forcing download games and material.
i also believe that PSP 1000, 2000 and 3000's prices will go up only to be able to play the current and older games.
now if sony stops firmware upgrade for the older systems, then there might be an issue, however as long as you can still play those games, all is well
 
Well I've had a 3000 for around 12 months now and it works like a charm. I've never had any of the problems that have been reported and it is possible to mod it. The only thing you ideally need is a pandora battery which allows the user to downgrade the firmware to (iirc) v3.1 which unbricks the PSP.
 
The pandora method doesn't work on the PSP3000.

The battery puts it into service mode, but the bootloader in the PSP 3000 checks the signature of the code it's about to boot also. If its not signed, it won't boot that code.

The PSP3000 hack uses a specially crafted file that exploits a vulnerability in the OS and runs some special code. That special code lets the special hack code run that patches the firmware.

As for the PSP Go - the PSP 3000 will still be sold alongside it. About the only redeeming factor is the 16GB of storage. So you can get a PSP 3000 for $170, or a PSP Go for $250.
 
The pandora method doesn't work on the PSP3000.

The battery puts it into service mode, but the bootloader in the PSP 3000 checks the signature of the code it's about to boot also. If its not signed, it won't boot that code.

The PSP3000 hack uses a specially crafted file that exploits a vulnerability in the OS and runs some special code. That special code lets the special hack code run that patches the firmware.

As for the PSP Go - the PSP 3000 will still be sold alongside it. About the only redeeming factor is the 16GB of storage. So you can get a PSP 3000 for $170, or a PSP Go for $250.

The feature I find most interesting is the integrated bluetooth. I'd love to play some of those games with a real controller. I might even hook the PSP up to the TV and use it that way on occasion, especially if it can upscale to 480i or 480p. Then again, I already have a PSP that I love, so I don't really have a need for a Go. I admit, it'd be nice to have 16GB of integrated storage.
 
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