Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Review

IntroductionEver since the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) wasannounced at E3 in May 2004, we have been eagerly anticipating the hottest console launch (sorry Nintendo DS) this year, even if it is only for the Japanese market right now. We were fortunate enough to get a unit to test a mere five days after the Japanese release date and have been playing with it all weekend. The Sony PSP features a large 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a 480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, USB 2.0 connectivity (via mini-USB), a Memory Stick Pro Duo media slot, and 802.11b WiFi support. It uses Sonys proprietary Universal Media Disc, which stores up to 1.8GB in a format reminiscent of MiniDiscs. The Japanese launch release date was December 12th and the first shipment of PSPs quickly sold out.
Unfortunately, with the fine glossy screen gees the problem of fingerprints and smudges. While we didnt use latex gloves while handling the unit, we were very careful to try and handle it with the utmost of care. That said, there were smudges around the control buttons within seconds. Its pretty much unavoidable to smudge the smooth front cover, so we regemend a very soft cloth to wipe off smudges and smears, but make sure the cloth doesnt scratch up the LCD. The back of the unit is textured plastic and does not smudge. Within an hour of playing some games on the PSP and constantly wiping off smudges, there were some light scratches on the screen. Were hoping that Sony will sell replacement PSP faceplates at a reasonable price.
The front of the PSP unit has the directional pad on the left side, and the analog thumb stick (looks like speaker mesh) below that. The analog thumb stick is quite a burden to use since its so far down, as there is no thumb support from the unit when you use it. It was fine to play Ridge Racers with it, but after 15 minutes, we felt as if we were getting thumbitis with a sore thumb joint. To the right of the LCD is the standard circle, square, triangle, and x buttons any Playstation junkie has begee accustomed to. The left and right trigger buttons are at the top of the unit and are clear, looking a bit like jewelry. All buttons on our review unit were easy to press and click fast if necessary.
The bottom edge of the PSP is raised ever so slightly, with buttons for Home, lowering and raising the volume, brightness, sound settings for various music genres, and Select and Start buttons. While Home, Select, and Start are quite easy to press since the size of the buttons are a good size, the volume and brightness and music buttons take quite a bit of effort to depress as the buttons are half the size of the other ones and further away if you use your thumbs to depress. Since you may use the volume buttons quite a bit, its a bit of a pain and there seems to be enough room on the left bottom side to put in larger buttons for volume. But at least the volume buttons are not essential for quick pressing during gaming. For brightness, there are three settings, from Dim to Bright to Brightest (our wording), we found Bright to be the adequate enough. When plugged into the AC outlet, there is an additional level of brightness. Since theres still not much sun in Seattle this time of year, we were unable to test the PSP in direct sunlight.
The left side of the unit has the WiFi switch, a quick flip up and the WiFi mode is set to on.
At the top edge is an infrared trasmitter, a mini-USB connector and the Eject button for loading UMDs. Sony is planning an infrared remote controller for the PSP, and it looks like any future PSP add-ons will be plugged in up top, as theres two locking holes on each side of the mini-USB port.
The gebined power and hold switch is on the lower right side, you can push the switch down for hold, and pushing the slider up turns it on. The button always returns to the middle after pushing it up, which we found a bit annoying. A simple On/Off/Hold switch would have been easier to handle. When you power it on, the PSP returns you to where you left off (like returning from a hibernation state in Windows XP, but without any delays at all). When you toggle hold during a game, the PSP buttons begee disabled, and the game just continues. Hold is probably most useful when playing a video or a music album and you dont want any accidental button presses to interfere.
The bottom right is where the AC adapter plug goes in, which we find is quite an odd placement for it. When gaming with the power line plugged in, your right hand will feel the cord and plug. While it doesnt interfere per se, it would have been much neater if the power port was placed on the top edge of the unit. Not a huge knock, just a slight inconvenience. The left side is where the headphones plug in. When used, the headphone plug doesnt interfere with our movement as much as the AC adapter one because the headphones plug is on the bottom half of the PSP. Also at the bottom edge a sticker in a recessed area, with the product number and serial number in the middle. We dont we see it lasting after a few years of months of hardcore use nor do we see the point of this sticker, as there is actually an etched serial number in the battery gepartment.
USB ConnectivityIn USB Mode, if you have a Memory Stick Pro Duo inserted, you can connect a mini-USB cable to the top of the PSP, and it acts like a USB drive, allowing you to access any folders or content on the Memory Stick. Windows XP immediately recognized the device as a Removable Disk after we plugged in the cable. File transfers both ways were incredibly fast thanks to the USB 2.0 support.
Universal Media DiscsThe Sony PSP uses a proprietary 1.8GB Universal Media Disc (UMD) format, in part an effort to thwart piracy and so they can control what gets released for their system. They are much like MiniDiscs (the actual disc just slightly smaller), but with one serious drawback, a gaping hole in the back of the plastic case (no doubt for the PSP to read in data). While we know some of you are very meticulous and careful when handling your disc-based media, we also know quite a few people that have scratched up DVDs and games. We just dont get why Sony didnt put a metal faceplate over the hole like they do for MiniDiscs.
UMD games are packaged in a plastic section which the UMD fits snugly into. But there is no small plastic case for UMDs (ala Gameboy carts) and one can not reasonably be expected to carry around the full game box when transporting extra games with the system. Were sure third party UMD plastic cases will be out soon enough, but for now, youll have to resort to carrying the whole game box, as we dont regemend just putting a UMD in your pocket to carry around.
The UMD drive makes a whirring noise at times when loading games or levels (but not while actually playing). Its not too obnoxious and sort of sounds like a hard drive spinning up, but you do hear it. After living with solid state handheld games (cartridges), we had to get used to load times again. The original Playstation 1 had horrid load times for some games, but it did improve over time as programmers got to know the system. We hope the same will be true for the PSP as it took 19 seconds after selecting UMD to get to the Namco logo on Ridge Racers. During the game, it took 10 seconds to load the course after selecting all the options. For Minna No Golf, it took 25 seconds to get to the intro screen and 16 seconds to start playing from the menu. Its tolerable but an aspect that could use some improvement.
Adult targetWhile kids will surely want the Sony PSP (my 4 year-old nephew asked his Daddy for one immediately after seeing it), Sony is targeting the more mature audience. We dont see younger kids handling the UMDs with the open area well and we can just picture screen scratches within a day after little Jimmy has their hands on one. As a friend pointed out, this system is perfect for the Japanese audience, a country where they are known for cleanliness, neatness, and taking care of their electronics well. That, sadly, can not be said for the American audience (in general), we are just more rough with our gear. It will be interesting to see if Sony changes the PSP at all for the American audience and were thinking the USA warranty should be at least a year. This may be an item where you will actually want to purchase the extended warranty program from a store.
First bootupAt first bootup, we were greeted with a language option, between Japanese and English. Next you can give your PSP a nickname (for network play) via cellphone type text entry (press 2 three times for the letter C, etc). Seeing how the PSP has plenty of room for a keyboard layout on the screen, we would have much preferred that. The Japanese are used to the phone keypad text entry system, so Im sure its not a big deal to them, but for the US release, we hope they change it. Another annoying interface aspect was when we entered our IP address for the PSP. We had to scroll up and down through 256 numbers (0 to 255), rather than manually entering numerals. Its not very fun to scroll for 16 sets of numbers.
After setting it to English, the menus are pretty self-explanatory, the main options are Settings, Photo, Music, Video, and Game. Some of the options may not be available if you dont have a Memory Stick Pro Duo inserted.
Japanese differencesAs was the case with Japanese version Playstation 1 and 2s, the button you choose to select what you want is the Circle button, and not the X button (like in the US versions). The X button thus begees the back or cancel option. When youre used to using X to select everything, there will be times you forget and accidentally hit the wrong button. The manual is in Japanese, not that we needed it at all for anything. Other than those two things, the PSP itself is very English-speaker friendly.
Battery LifeThe PSP is powered by a 100-240V (5A) universal power adapter, which means you can use it anywhere in the world practically. Your PSP is ready to travel the world with you. There have been reports of a weak two hours of battery life when playing geplex 3D games. We fully charged up our PSP battery and popped in Ridge Racers for nonstop gaming. We set the brightness to the middle level and set the volume to 15 button presses from 0 (the max volume is 30). That level of brightness and volume we feel is adequate for the average gamer during gameplay. With no breaks in between, we played non-stop for 3 hours and 35 minutes. We also tried another Ridge Racers test, playing one game, then letting the system run through the replay in an infinite loop. That test also resulted in a playtime of 3 hours and 31 minutes.
While not superb, we feel 3.5 hours is acceptable and you can always buy a spare battery (~$45) if you need it. Cheaper third party batteries will show up sooner or later as well. We had really hoped the PSP could be charged via mini-USB (just like the DS can be charged by USB), but unfortunately Sony did not include that support. But to be fair, our mini-USB cable was not able to charge our cellphone razvoreither, though the phone is supposedly capable of doing so. So it may be that we have a bunk USB cable. If anyone has gotten their PSP to charge via USB, let us know. Wed also like to see a cigarette lighter power adapter for long road trips.
After 3.5 hours of nonstop gaming, the unit is just barely warm to the touch. I ejected the UMD and the disc felt just the tiniest bit warm too. So hopefully thats a sign of no overheating problems (which plagued the first-generation Sony Playstations, anyone remember turning it upside down to alleviate the problem?).
Memory Stick Pro DuoThe Sony PSP alone will make the Memory Stick Duo (Pro Duo) a viable format, as the PSP does not take any of the older Memory Stick formats nor the Memory Stick Pro. It only takes the tiny Duo flash memory card, which is about 85% of the size of a Secure Digital (SD) card. We believe the highest current available size is 512MB, retailing for $130 at stores (or about $85 shipped on okay) as we have not seen the 1GB version in stock anywhere. You will need a Memory Stick to save your game states and if you want to play MP3s or videos on it. The Ridge Racers save game takes about 700kb and Minna No Golf Portable needs about 769kb.
After formatting your Memory Stick Pro Duo in the PSP, you get a PSP directory, and GAME, MUSIC, PHOTO, SAVEDATA folders within that. The game folder will eventually house downloadable games or demos from the Internet, music is for your MP3s, photo for your JPGs, and savedata for your saved games. Video files need to go in a different folder which we will get into later this week.
PhotosFor photo viewing, GIF, BMP, and PNG files arent supported by the PSP, but standard JPG ones are. When you have a full-sized 4 or 5 megapixel JPG file, the PSP takes a bit of time for it to load, about 3 seconds for a 1.8MB JPG file. It automatically crops the photo (most photos are in the 4:3 format), leaving white space on the sides of the picture when it is displayed (see above).

For photos that you have cropped or Photoshopped to the PSPs native 480x272 resolution , the picture loads immediately and looks sharp with excellent detail. You can get file information (filename and file date), do a slideshow, or zoom in to certain parts of the picture. The photo gallery works much like Windows Explorer, showing a thumbnail of the picture, the filename, and date. You can also create folders within the PSPPhoto directory in Windows Explorer to organize your photos. In the Photo section, when you press the Triangle button, you can delete folders or pictures, or get more information about a picture, including its full resolution and which camera took the shot by accessing the EXIF information within the JPG file itself.
Music playingThe biggest knock on Sony in the past has been their insistence of using the ATRAC format, forcing you to convert your beloved MP3s to their proprietary format before their players could play it. They have finally listened to their users and done away with ATRAC only with native MP3 support in the PSP. Just drop files into your PSP/Music folder and your PSP can play them directly. The speakers are at the bottom of the unit, and the two little holes on the bottom produce good sound. We played a variety of MP3s just fine including variable bit rate ones, but were sorry to report that we didnt have any ATRAC files to test out.
Video playingVideos look amazing on the widescreen. The picture is sharp and detailed and colors are vibrant. While its fine to hold when playing games or watching short clips, it gets a bit tiresome if you are watching an hour long or longer show to just hold in your hands (rest assured however, as Sony will be putting out a stand for the PSP).

WiFi setupThe 802.11b WiFi support in the PSP is easy to setup. Just name your connection (Home, Work, etc), put in the SSID access point name, a WEP key if any, and then setup IP and DNS addresses (or choose automatic if using DHCP). Theres a network test when you are done, telling you your current signal strength and whether your Internet connection succeeded or not. Taking a page from Microsoft, you can also update the PSP OS via a Network Update, but as our PSP is less than a week old, there were no updates available. Our tech geekiness led us to try to update the system (its less than a week old) before even playing games. Our system already had the latest version, as there were no updates from Sony.
ConclusionThe Sony PSP is a great handheld gaming console, one that is as revolutionary as the original Nintendo Gameboy was, not only because its basically a handheld Playstation 2 with powerful graphics, but because of all the other value-added features it gees with, namely the photo viewer, the audio player, and video player. Its an excellent value for $200 retail. There is no handheld gaming gepetitor that gees close to it right now, and it delves into other specialized market segments (portable audio and music players) and holds its own, save for its low storage space. The most amazing thing about the PSP is the large 4.3-inch screen, which is simply amazing to see in person. Sony didnt half-ass the extra features and the PSP does each very well. The photo viewer is superb and sharp and the audio player can play MP3s very well, on par with an iPod mini at least from our testing. The videos when played back from Memory Sticks are superb, theres no doubt that movies on UMD will look just as great on the wide screen.
Now may be the time to put in your pre-orders for the February or March 2005 US PSP launch, that is if you can resist importing a system. We really hope Sony holds to their word of no region coding on PSP games (we dont mind so much if UMD movies are region encoded), because wed rather not have to rip apart our PSP to install a region-free modchip (which will surely gee if there is region coding for games). You will pay a bit of a premium for a PSP now unless you know someone in Japan that can get you one. The question of worth is of course dependant on what your ingee level is and how much you value having the latest system. We think its easily worth at least $300, and an instant buy at $200 retail. But, the current prices of $500-600 are a bit extreme for all but the hardcore gamer with cash to burn.
Dead or lit pixels will continue to be an issue for any PSP buyer (as it is for LCD monitors) and its the only main gripe of our system. Were more forgiving than most and tolerating the slow load times as it is the first generation software, but we do want to see that get better. We advise getting another battery if you plan on playing more than four hours a day away from an AC outlet. We do wish that it could be charged via USB and that text input in the Sony operating system menus were easier. Itd be nice to see a demo disc included and an Internet browser within the OS, seeing how easy the WiFi was to setup and get working. Greater Memory Stick Pro Duo storage sizes at more affordable rates should gee as the system matures, as the PSP would an amazing powerhouse with 4GB of storage. Sony has raised the bar for not only a handheld gaming device, but for all handheld gadget devices.