Thanks for continuing here...
I didn't need the memory card, but figured I also didn't *need* the Star Wars
game either. I'll probably get that later once the price comes way down. I am a
Family Guy fan though, so snagging that as a bonus was, well, sweet.
Image linked from
Amazon.com
The silver color for the PSP in the Daxter bundle is kind of nice. Much less
likely to show finger prints (which the original black PSP did). Definitely
feels lighter than the original. Considerably lighter by my memory of the weight
of the original, and definitely a brighter screen though it remains the same
size as the screen on the original units.
The new units (the -2000 models) use a different mechanism for the door for
the UMD and I'm left wondering if perhaps the new design is an improvement or
step in the wrong direction. In the older units the door opened and a
sliding tray was provided to slip the UMD disc into. In the new units, the
door opens and the user has to slide the disc into a virtually unmarked area
leaving questions on whether the disc is just going to slide around, fall out,
line up, or get jammed in the unit because the user put it where it wasn't
supposed to go. I suppose the intent is to cut weight from the unit, and
if so, that was accomplished (see info above). I just wish that the
mechanism was more user friendly.
Before I get too far in using the unit, I want to snag a screen protector for
this new unit, and also want to get a new set of headphones (and the remote
control for same) for it. I'm gonna get irritated pretty quick at paying for
those things again, plus paying for the video cable, but I guess such is the
price of upgrading from old to new.*
*If you weren't aware the accessories for the new units don't
work with the old units and vice versa. Users are warned of these things
in the packaging with the console and/or with the accessories, but this
incompatibility introduces a level of complexity to owning a PSP that really
needn't have been there if Sony planned better.
Image linked from
Newegg.com
Eventually I hope to pick up the Component Video cable (shown above) so I
can send the output from the PSP to my TV. I like the
thought of being able to output to the bigger screen but even in this area you
have to be careful about what cable you buy as the Composite cable won't output
everything while the Component cable will. Yet more fun with Sony making
things more complex than necessary.
These new units do offer savings (or at least should) to Sony thanks to
various changes in the units to make them thinner, lighter, less costly to
build, etc. The new units also give Sony a chance to make improvements
(like the Video output capability that wasn't an option in the original PSP
units) that may help keep the PSP from falling behind Nintendo and their
perennially competitive handheld gaming units (currently the Nintendo DS
Lite). Sony has yet to really take advantage of their technologically
superior systems -- both in the PSP area and in the Playstation 3 area. Letting
Nintendo hammer them on the handheld front and losing to both Nintendo and
Microsoft on the full-sized console front isn't a good idea. Hopefully
(for Sony's sake) they'll be able to use the new PSP systems to help slow down
Nintendo over the next year.
