Went out and quite surprisingly could easily pick up one of Sonys' PSP handhelds, with little fuss.
People go on about the screen and they are right, it is probably perfect. Just the right amount of everything. I seem to have two pixels dropped (when a pixel on the screen appears off all the time) and I will wait and see what the amount Sony claim is enough to return it for replacement.
Got a power supply, battery, case, 32MB Memory stick, headphones with remote, and carrying strap in the box. As well as Spiderman 2 movie, and a sampler UMD disk. The UMD stands for Universal Media Disk, and is like a small CD in a plastic cover, which you insert in the back of the PSP. The back of the unit is the disk drawer lid, and opens slightly to get the disk inside. When you eject it, it pops it out a little too. The UMD's stay in the plastic cases, so you can handle them without getting marmite all over them perhaps.
Usual set up to set the time and date, and user. Then set it to access the wirless network. It connected and checked for updates online without incident. Everything was straight forward and just worked.
Got two games with the unit, Wipeout Pure and Twisted Metal Head On So I'm shallow, is that a crime?. Not played enough of them to get a sense of good or bad, but first off, everything was better than I thought. In fact, the whole thing has been better than I could have thought. The PSP is nice and light, the screen is amazing and the sound seems to er... how do they say it ...er.. ROCK!
Small gripe is that the sampler UMD comes with some movie trailers, and some music videos. Every single music video is crap, and thats the official word from Krysss.Com towers. Quality is wonderful, but choice just blows MASSIVE chunks of what ever people in the 80's meant by such phrases.
Spiderman 2 the movie on UMD disk was like having my own movie theatre. With the included ear buds, this was perfect. I had not seen the movie before now so it was a rare occurance to actually be watching something I did not know the outcome of.
I am one of those people WHO DO NOT wish to know the outcome of the amazing movie you just saw (which you know I want to see for myself), and you are telling me because you are excited at seeing it, and want to share it with the world. Don't share it with me ok as there are plenty of other people in the world.
Picture quality reminded me of all those nice televisions you see in the stores, but without none of the artifacts (blocky trails around fast moving objects) you see with some digital televisions. It was great. The viewing angle seems wide too. None of that dimming or weird color changing when you see if from a less than perfect angle.
The games, well they were just like playing on a PS2 or any other current console. If you have played on any of them, this is the same experience but in your hand. It's like when you go to the movies, or sit at home and watch something. After a while you do not realise the size of the screen, you just get sucked in. This was the same thing, but with a nice bonus of being widescreen.Can you hear the angelic choir?
Next thing to do is to put some of my own pictures on it, as well as transfer some movies to the teeny card as it appears on your computer as an external hard drive, when connected via USB. It seems that Memory Stick manufacturers are going to get a nice bonus over the coming months with all the sales. Yours truly is already on the hunt for what ever is the largest capacity the PSP will take.
As for the wireless side of this, it works on 802.11b and so far seems to work well, and I discovered it can scan for networks too. This is going to make work a LITTLE more fun because I can use the PSP to test the networks instead of the Axim. Oooo don't you just LURVE all these compensatory gadgets.
No issue with the buttons, and the analogue stick is a flat button, which moves about slightly on the surface of the PSP. The Start and Select buttons are at the bottom of the screen along with three more. Sound equalizer, Home, and a screen brightness toggle. All of which I still have to get used to.
The front end menu is really simple and is just move and press to access. Not worth explaining here because it is so simple and would take longer to get the concept across to someone who doesn't have a PSP than for you to get the idea when you try one out in a store. Oops I just DID take longer to tell you, darn... oh there I go again making it even longer.. bugger, etc.
So it can play music, video, and games. I think I have found my version of the Ipod. I recently went to an Apple store to get over my Mac Mini obsession, which was quickly deflated when I saw the products in front of me. No reason, just that they were REALLY expensive and did nothing fundamentally different to what I already had and can do for MUCH better value. It was like the first time you see Linux and go "Ooooo this is so kewl" and then can't think of a real reason to use it. Linux being completely free, where as Apple products seem to be as opposite to free as you could possibly imagine!
I had been taking more of a look at the media playing portables of late, but they were all expensive and seemed to do nothing a Pocket PC couldn't do. The PSP plays games (good ones which I like) as well as songs I have, and any video I think I may need on the go.
Note to Ipod users... Did you even THINK that you wanted to pay such a lot of money for what is basically a hard drive with a headphone socket? What actual reason could anyone have for needing ALL their music in the same box? Your computer can carry it, your laptop (if you are on the go) can carry it. What scenario is there, where someone has NO access to ANY music, and yet seems to have a mystical power supply which will last the length of time needed, to play all this? Give me one good reason, even half a good reason, heck maybe even a bad reason? Get a cheap MP3 player and then purchase memory cards as you need them dude... as they kids say DURR! And here's what Apple don't want you to know, as it seems some of you may have not worked this out... Apple did not invent the portable music player, nor are they the only company that makes them. Although they are the company that seems to make the most expensive ones.
So if you like your gaming, then go geta PSP, it is very good indeed.
Sony PSP, does everything nicely.
