Sony PSP?

[lights]

hey guys... i figured i would put the question here since it's a game related thing....

in short, i'm talking with a couple of merchants regarding this sony psp thing and need some information from a gamer's point of view on it. i can't release what we're working on or when (if at all) it would happen. it's more for my sake in the "discussions" and to be going into these discussions at least with some knowledge of what this thing is...

i've surfed the net, found some info. but frankly, don't have the time (and more so, the desire) to be reading pages upon pages of these reviews....

so...

for those of you who are itching to get this thing. why is it so hot? what makes it so hot? i get the specs and features... but i'm not gamer so don't really see what the big deal is from a gamer's point of view.... any info would be greatly appreciated.

- lights

[Cantacuzene]

Its playstation 1 level graphics on a handheld. It plays movies and mp3 as well. and its well under $300. I'd love to have one.

[lights]

playstation 1 level graphics?

could you clarify please?

[Cantacuzene]

It has the ability to play games of playstation 1 level graphical quality.

[Bires]

It plays movies and mp3 as well


And yet no one can confirm if the optical disk will be re-writable from a PC. If it isn't, then who would buy a movie to play only on their PSP?

[M_A_C]

Actually they are pretty much PS2 quality, not PS1.

[gear02]

Actually they are pretty much PS2 quality, not PS1.

Yeah...i don't know where you got the PS1 quality Canta. All reports indicate the graphical ability is somewhere very near the PS2.

Not that I put much faith in corporate news releases, Sony confirms this:

http://www.us.playstation.com/pressreleases.aspx?id=250

[civicdidex]

it uses mem stick duo also, so u can slap a movie on one of those sticks...

[AlpineJay]

The MIPS processer on the PSP is supposed to be at the level of PS2 with the number of transistors and graphics pipeline being roughly the same.

I personally can't wait to get my hands on one. I don't want to do the package preorder as I want to get the unit and maybe one game, whereas almost all retailers will not let you preorder a PSP unit itself for 250. So hopefully Sony will pump enough units for me to get one on March 24. I'll be away on vacation but will shell out the dough onboard the cruise ship to order online.

I will be online at 12:00am on March 24 to see if I can get one.

[lights]

yes.... we are well aware of the mar 24 date. and depending on who you believe, some say there'll be plenty in stock while others say good luck!

we're also aware of the (rather strange) bundling that they're doing with it.... i know that there's a demand for them. i'm just trying to figure out how to get it to you guys here so that you guys aren't ripped a new.... well, you know. ;)

thanks for the info so far guys. it does help to read your thoughts on anything to do with this little bugger....

[M_A_C]

Overstock.com had it for $225 after a coupon, but they were sold out by the time I saw the deal. :(

Yeah civicdidex, I do think the video player will be one of the coolest things about it.

[SnowSurfer]

i cant wait to get one but i will probably hold off till april 1st to see the reviews

[Cantacuzene]

And yet no one can confirm if the optical disk will be re-writable from a PC. If it isn't, then who would buy a movie to play only on their PSP?

But the 1gb mem stick can hold a movie or mp3. I'm guessing the optical disc will not be re-writable though.

[gear02]

Yeah, no way the optical disc will be writable. First, it's a proprietary standard which won't fit in any drive you buy. Second, those sony bastards want to sell you every single movie on the PSP format. :)

[revil]

Yeah, no way the optical disc will be writable. First, it's a proprietary standard which won't fit in any drive you buy. Second, those sony bastards want to sell you every single movie on the PSP format. :)
well, they've opened the standard so other people can make drives and such for it.... if they pay sony the liscense fee.

[gear02]

well, they've opened the standard so other people can make drives and such for it.... if they pay sony the liscense fee.

ooo...very interesting...

[lights]

Overstock.com had it for $225 after a coupon, but they were sold out by the time I saw the deal. :(


yeah, actually they spoke to me briefly regarding it. they told me they sold out in a matter of 9 minutes i believe and they had quite a few allocated.... :gle:

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Ecost.com had them for $220 After MIR... Instead of getting the Sony PSP, I would rather get the Dell X30 PDA for cheap...

[AlpineJay]

yes.... we are well aware of the mar 24 date. and depending on who you believe, some say there'll be plenty in stock while others say good luck!

we're also aware of the (rather strange) bundling that they're doing with it.... i know that there's a demand for them. i'm just trying to figure out how to get it to you guys here so that you guys aren't ripped a new.... well, you know. ;)

thanks for the info so far guys. it does help to read your thoughts on anything to do with this little bugger....

Well, great, keep us posted. If G|A can come through for this one that would be super awesome.

[lights]

by the way,... if you guys have contact information for anybody that i may be able to reach and work out a deal for you folks, don't hesitate to PM or email me that info.

people/merchants ARE calling me and asking about putting together a psp deal for you guys here.... but half of them sound like cow dung and the other half...

well, let's just say they know less than me about this thing so that doesn't bode well. :heh:

and i don't want the headache of having half a million of you guys getting shafted soooo... if we don't figure something out for mar 24, you can be assured i'm working on SOMETHING. :)

[welfareloser]

ga goo ba da ba DIE DIE DIE doooooo thpppffft :)

man... it's so hard to take anything you say seriously when your avatar is that goofy lil mofo ;) i just wanna pinch his (her?) widdle cheeks...

[lights]

:heh:
glad you like it...
i gotta find a new avatar though.... getting tired of this one.

are there any other thoughts or info on this console? i'm talking with a few of the merchants this week regarding it.... any info, i know, will help me. :)

[Booyamos]

http://www.pspvideo9.com/pspcasting.html

PSPcasting, convert video to psp format... oooooh!

Can convert straight from a torrent download to the psp format.

[Cantacuzene]

Yes, if you can get a sweet deal on this I'd be much obliged.

[kimchicowboy]

i saw some dude using this on the subway today. it looks SWEEEET! :)

[_=DeltaForce=_]

I think I will get a PSP tommorow if my parents give me ride to best buy @ 7 tommorow...

[hapoo]

I think I will get a PSP tommorow if my parents give me ride to best buy @ 7 tommorow...

how about you put that $250 towards getting a car, or at least a bus pass? :P

[gear02]

any news lights?

[Cantacuzene]

Yeah I am planning on picking one up tomorrow at RETAIL price, unless I hear some good news from ya Lights.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

how about you put that $250 towards getting a car, or at least a bus pass? :P

Wish I wasnt too lazy to take the driving road test.... If I wanted, I would have got a car long ago... Actually I wasnt planning on getting the PSP.. But I received a $400 paypal cash for Free yesterday... So I thought of picking one and enjoying my spring break...

ecost.com has the PSP for $239 with Free ground shipping...

[gear02]

i still have no bloody idea what the retail price of the unit alone is. Is it $250?

Stupid bundles.

[Booyamos]

nifty, i wants one. Hmm maybe i'll pick one up this summer. Though i really don't have much use for it, could use it on planes and on the Bus/Subway though.

[SnowSurfer]

im going to get mine right now, ill write back reviewwwwwww

[Cantacuzene]

I'm going to toys r us in a few minutes. I half expect not to get one, so I wont be too dispointed if I cant grab one.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Got my PSP @ 8.05 @ Best buy... The manager gave me a $5 coupon on any PSP game... ALso I got the reawrds zone for Free....

[mcs328]

..and 1 hour later the verdict is....? Are you playing a game or watching the movie?

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Playing the Game Twisted Metal... Couple of problems, It accumlates fingerprints like hell and your thumb starts to hurt when you use it for more than an hour...

[Jah Rulez]

You can't be OCD and play w/ the PSP....too many fingerprints. On the plus side it fully charged in about 3 hours....

I also found that there were plenty at BestBuy...they claimed to have over 200 at 8am.

Friend of mine works at WalMart and said that they had about 65 or so and as of Noon they only sold about 7. S/B in stock when you get there.

Twisted Metal is a good game. No Ridge Racer at BB though.

[CornMonkey]

quite a few ppl here at my office got them... i didn't care too much for this portable but after seeing them in action, i am thoroughly impressed. the screen is just spectacular. if i had $250 to blow, i'd have one in my hands now too.

[NullUnit2000]

Got mine this morning. I just about PSP'd my pants!

[mcs328]

I have this bad habit of buying systems and getting like a total of 10 games each system.

[StonedWheat]

Got mine this morning. I just about PSP'd my pants!


LOL...stupid but made me laugh. I just played wipeout on it, and damn I"m pretty impressed! largest screen ever for a handheld device I think. It does have near ps2 graphics. I'm gonna get one...after the first price drop cus I'm a cheapo.

[M_A_C]

I'm having fun messing around with putting movies on it. I need to get a bigger memory card for sure.

[SolidSnake]

Well let's see...

Great handheld graphics
Mp3 Player
WiFi Internet connection
UMD PLAYER (any disc with umd format which are movies music and games")
Nintendo's nemesis :P
The Only flaw is the damn prize 250!! but i'd buy it .... if i had that much money LOL

[M_A_C]

I think I've got about 10+ stuck pixels on mine that are visable shining bright durning dark images. I got it at CompUSA, I'm thinking about swapping it out for another one, anyone had experience with them?

[SolidSnake]

hey... maybe the next one will come the same mac so don't spend your money :P give it to a G|A? fellow member... JK well about the pixel thing it has a really delicate screen so you guys might want to cover it or something cuz' it gets scratched easily...

[SnowSurfer]

mac, there has been reports of some dead pixels, if there is 10 i would def return it for another one.

My psp has no dead pixels what so ever.

A screen protector is a must on this thing due to the huge screen.

:)

psp=hot

[M_A_C]

By the way, you can load these up onto your PSP to check for bad pixels:

http://img181.exs.cx/img181/3600/black4cf.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img30.exs.cx/img30/8080/white0ru.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img7.exs.cx/img7/2413/blue9rh.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img190.exs.cx/img190/5424/green1ag.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/2058/red2ee.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Only in the Black picture, I can see three small white dots.. But in another pictures I cannot see... Anyone know why??

[hapoo]

looks like the psp is bombing. Almost every store still has them in stock. Personally i'm holding off until mods come out for it.

[M_A_C]

Only in the Black picture, I can see three small white dots.. But in another pictures I cannot see... Anyone know why??

Thats the way mine is only I have more than 3.

[SnowSurfer]

looks like the psp is bombing. Almost every store still has them in stock. Personally i'm holding off until mods come out for it.

there is 6 stores that are sold out in my area but the local walmart has 54 left? does that mean that it is bombing just because they didnt all sell out in every state? Some states have different demographics than other states....

:)

[M_A_C]

Here is a good picture I got of my stuck pixels:

http://img18.exs.cx/img18/4935/img04450wu.th.jpg (http://img18.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img18&image=img04450wu.jpg)

[gear02]

Here is a good picture I got of my stuck pixels:

http://img18.exs.cx/img18/4935/img04450wu.th.jpg (http://img18.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img18&image=img04450wu.jpg)

holy crap! that's a lot!

I can't buy it since I've ready bought a laptop and I'm going to be poor for the next two years. But if I was in the market I'd wait 3-6 months to see if their fab process gets better. That's a $@$ lot of dead pixels.

Have you tried massaging them back? Maybe return it.


there is 6 stores that are sold out in my area but the local walmart has 54 left? does that mean that it is bombing just because they didnt all sell out in every state? Some states have different demographics than other states....

:)

According to preliminary figures sales are lukewarm.

[SolidSnake]

hmmm it figures... it was too good not to have a bug in it ! stupid sony... but still I want my own!!!

[Bires]

looks like the psp is bombing. Almost every store still has them in stock. Personally i'm holding off until mods come out for it.

That's me too. I'm also waiting for cheaper memstick duo (1G) prices and a good puzzle/rpg game or two.

[gear02]

you guys don't mean mods to play burned games right...

[Devhux]

If only Sony's dead pixel policy was as good as Nintendo's (in other words, zero tolerance).

What I can't figure out, is why Sony "wouldn't" offer such a policy -- I mean, they want to take out Nintendo in the portable gaming area, and if Nintendo offers anything remotely better in their cheaper product, then that's a major roadblock to Sony.

[SolidSnake]

yeah nintendo's product might be cheaper and nice services but sony's has better functions or so i've heard..

[bbrian]

If only Sony's dead pixel policy was as good as Nintendo's (in other words, zero tolerance).

What I can't figure out, is why Sony "wouldn't" offer such a policy -- I mean, they want to take out Nintendo in the portable gaming area, and if Nintendo offers anything remotely better in their cheaper product, then that's a major roadblock to Sony.Trying to warranty against dead pixels on a high resolution LCD is like trying to warranty against scratches.

[M_A_C]

Trying to warranty against dead pixels on a high resolution LCD is like trying to warranty against scratches.

Yeah, thats why you just have to completely break the thing and then have them replace it! ;)

[irwin]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/25/news_6121092.html

[hapoo]

I don't understand why its such a big issue. Almost every store has a 30 day return policy. Is there something i'm missing here?

[M_A_C]

Yeah, I called Compusa and they have no problem exchanging it. I just have to wait for them to get more in.

By the way, Wipeout is freaking awesome!

[Devhux]

I've never had a dead pixel on any LCD I've worked with (probably close to 10 panels from various manufacturers).

Considering those panels worked at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 resolution (way more than the PSP), the amount of PSP's with flawed screens is unacceptable.

(I'm not saying that desktop LCD's will never have dead pixels -- but based on what I've seen, it's far less common than what the PSP has)

[M_A_C]

Of course you also have to take into account the entire PSP system costs less than most desktop LCDs.

[gear02]

Of course you also have to take into account the entire PSP system costs less than most desktop LCDs.

it's also 4 inches wide...compared to a 15 or 17inch...

[gugnheim]

I must be the only one completely pleased. I have no pixel problems that I can tell. My only problem was setting up the networking, and it was my fault, as I have mac filtering on my accesspoint, and forgot to tell it to allow the mac from the psp. My only gripe is that I was using WPA and i have to use wep. I have yet to be able to get into an online game, but I'll keep trying.

I bought Twisted Metal and Dark Stalkers. Can't wait for a decent RPG.

Gug

[M_A_C]

I must be the only one completely pleased. I have no pixel problems that I can tell. My only problem was setting up the networking, and it was my fault, as I have mac filtering on my accesspoint, and forgot to tell it to allow the mac from the psp. My only gripe is that I was using WPA and i have to use wep. I have yet to be able to get into an online game, but I'll keep trying.

I bought Twisted Metal and Dark Stalkers. Can't wait for a decent RPG.

Gug

Glad to here it.

Have you tried TM online yet?

I should have my 512mb stick coming in tomorrow so can get some movies up on there.

[gugnheim]

Glad to here it.

Have you tried TM online yet?

I should have my 512mb stick coming in tomorrow so can get some movies up on there.


I have tried it, but haven't been able to get into a game successfully yet. I hosted one but nobody joined. Tried Dark Stalkers, but was the onlyh one on line..lol

Lemme know how that goes with the movies..

Gug

[Bires]

I wonder how much the piles and piles of refurb PSPs will be.



Also...what file types will the PSP play off the memstick? DIVX? XVID? AVI? MOV? WMA?

[Devhux]

IIRC, it's a proprietary format -- but you can find a converter online.

[M_A_C]

http://www.pspvideo9.com/index.html

Seems to work well.

Also, for an update I went and got another PSP at Walmart and it is in perfect condition. Took the other one back to Compusa no problems. :)

I also just put Elektra on my new mem stick. I converted it with the PSP9 program, used the default movie setting, and it came out to 304mb. Looks and plays real nice!

[AlpineJay]

I got mine today at Best Buy - caught their second round of shipments just in time. No dead pixels whatsoever so I'm a happy camper. Got NFL Street 2 with it and couldn't be happier with the gameplay - it was a great game on PS2, and even better on PSP.

I got the protection plan through Best Buy that gives me either my purchase price+tax back or a brand new unit in case of breakage for 40 bucks for 2 years. I recommend it highly as it's basically an upgrade/depreciation insurance for such small amounts of money.

Time to look for a deal on a 512MB Duo - gotta love Sony and their proprietary ways..

[SolidSnake]

Media Files PSP PLAYS: JPEG, MP3, MP4 (don't ask cuz' i really don't know honestly saw it on the web page), MPEG