PSP 2000 vs PSP 3000 - differences?

[Greywing]

Hey guys, I'm looking to get a PSP soon but I'm torn between the two versions available. The PSP 2000/Slim n Lite is cheaper, and I'm not sure what advangages the 3000 has over it. I've heard the 3000 has a better screen on paper but in actual use, it leads to more ghosting than the 2000. Is this true? What differences in general are there between versions? I'm in the UK, for the record, not that that should affect anything other than UMD region coding for movies, which I won't be buying.

Cheers!

[ADC]

The 3000's screen has better color range and contrast ratio and a lower pixel response rate to reduce ghosting effects. The problem is, the 3000's screen has a horizontal sub-pixel structure instead of the 2000's vertical structure. As a result, it appears that the 3000's screen has interlacing effects. So you have to pick your distraction. I can't give you much guidance on the 3000 as I don't own that model. The 2000's screen looks perfectly fine to me, with very little or no ghosting in most games.

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library. I'd say I have about 10 times as many games for the DS and maybe twice as many for the Wii. So I would caution you to make sure there are enough games you want to make the thing worthwhile.

[Greywing]

The 3000's screen has better color range and contrast ratio and a lower pixel response rate to reduce ghosting effects. The problem is, the 3000's screen has a horizontal sub-pixel structure instead of the 2000's vertical structure. As a result, it appears that the 3000's screen has interlacing effects. So you have to pick your distraction. I can't give you much guidance on the 3000 as I don't own that model. The 2000's screen looks perfectly fine to me, with very little or no ghosting in most games.

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library. I'd say I have about 10 times as many games for the DS and maybe twice as many for the Wii. So I would caution you to make sure there are enough games you want to make the thing worthwhile.

Thanks for the info. There are at least eight games I want, which is enough for me to justify buying the machine.

What're the battery life and recharge times like on the 2000?

[ADC]

What're the battery life and recharge times like on the 2000?
With the screen on its lowest brightness setting and WiFi switched off, the 2000 gets 4–5 hours per charge, then takes about three hours to recharge to full. That, coupled with and exacerbated by the use of discs for game delivery, is the PSP's chief flaw regardless of version. I think my old old old Gunpei Yokoi-designed original Game Boy got better life from either AAs or its external rechargeable battery pack. (Ah, memories.)

I usually say that I'll buy a console if it has five games I want, so I think you've got enough of a planned library to make the PSP worthwhile. Absent its pathetic battery, it's quite good so long as it has the games you want.

[Johnny]

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library. That statement stopped being valid years ago.

[NeoCortex]

The 2000 also seems to be a little more receptive to custom firmware if you decide to try that down the line. I recently installed some on my first-gen PSP and absolutely love it now.

[LordGeo]

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library. That statement stopped being valid years ago.

Unfortunately, that was the reason why I got rid of my PSP back about a year after it launched. There weren't too many games I wanted.

Now, though, there are a good number of titles I want to play for the PSP... So I'll probably buy another one sooner or later. Also, the ability to hook a PSP up to a TV is a cool aspect, potentially increasing play time with it for me.

[ADC]

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library.
That statement stopped being valid years ago.
Then I'm just going to have to develop a PSP game called Fuck-All and make it valid again! Then you'll see! :P

[Johnny]

Of course, the PSP in general has the problem (unrelated to the screen) of having fuck-all in its games library. That statement stopped being valid years ago.

Unfortunately, that was the reason why I got rid of my PSP back about a year after it launched. There weren't too many games I wanted.


I can sort of see why, a year into its lifespan, that someone would feel that it had little to no worthwhile games (although I personally would completely disagree - I bought over 20 games in its first 12 months and would class over half of those of being 'must-buys') but as you pointed out, at this point in time there are numerous great games in more or less every genre on the system.
Sure, it has more 'dry spells' than other systems, but look at the DS, the darling of the industry - year on year it's had less and less good games from a high point from Q3 2005 - Q2 2006 to now where there were surprisingly few (and this is coming from me who will play literally anything and am buying from 3 regions at once) big releases in all of 2008.

[Ty]

The reports of the 3000 series screen being flawed are incorrect. As ADC said the individual rows of R/G/B pixels (the subpixel structure) is striped in a horizontal direction instead of a vertical direction on the new screen. Because the screen also refreshes by drawing from top to bottom it had the side effect of making the refresh scans themselves appear more visible so people think it looks like interlacing. If you move the device up and down quickly you can demonstrate it for yourself very easily. For the record both the GBA and DS also do the same thing, and nobody ever complained about them.

My gut feeling is that Sony never even thought the consequences of it. The change in pixel structure no doubt came from sourcing the panel from a new supplier, as different LCD manufacturers use various different techniques to avoid having to pay for tons of patent licenses, and also to adapt the characteristics of the panel to different uses. I would guess they also might have wanted to change the primary viewing window for the display, meaning which direction it offers superior viewing angles: up/down or left/right. Even for VA based LCDs they typically will do a little better in one plane than in the other depending upon the orientation of the pixel structure.

One clear advantage of the 3000 screen is that the color gamut is literally double that of the old one. This isn't the same as color saturation, it means the new screen can literally produce twice the range of color. The result is richer deeper colors without having to make them look brighter through over saturation. That is worth a lot IMO, since I thought the old PSP screen looked very grungy with its poor color gamut. Smaller LCDs have recently started to catch up to desktop displays in color gamut performance, though they still aren't comparable.

[Skywise]

What're the battery life and recharge times like on the 2000?
With the screen on its lowest brightness setting and WiFi switched off, the 2000 gets 4–5 hours per charge, then takes about three hours to recharge to full.

Only if you use the slim battery that comes with the console. Just get a regular standard size battery (2200/2400 mAh), either with a new battery cover or add a protective skin so you can't see the battery, and it'll easily last 12 hours of use per charge - much longer if you use it to say play mp3s with the screen turned off and the cpu clocked down. A cover/skin is not really needed to keep the big battery in place by the way, but just for cosmetic effect.

None of the PSP 3000 models can run hacked firmware by the way, while most of the 2000 models (with the exception of the last model to come out) can. The advantages of hacking is the ability to use homebrew software and the ability to play _any_ PS1 and PSP games you own from the memory stick. Here's some very basic suggestions for homebrew:

http://pspupdates.qj.net/QuickJump-QuickGuide-8-QJ-s-Most-Useful-PSP-Homebrew-Applications/pg/49/aid/129905

If you want to use the TV out, you'll definitely want to get a hackable PSP so you can use FuSa: http://foosa.do.am/

[ADC]

Only if you use the slim battery that comes with the console. Just get a regular standard size battery (2200/2400 mAh), either with a new battery cover or add a protective skin so you can't see the battery, and it'll easily last 12 hours of use per charge - much longer if you use it to say play mp3s with the screen turned off and the cpu clocked down. A cover/skin is not really needed to keep the big battery in place by the way, but just for cosmetic effect.
If you're looking for a long-lasting music player, buy an iPod. Seriously. They're great, they're purpose-built for playing music, and you won't look like you have a deformed boner when you put one in your pocket. Meanwhile, I'd be very interested to know how you get 12 hours out of even the fat battery when even Sony doesn't make that claim.

[Skywise]

The old battery was designed for the old psp 1000 (phat) and had a rating of 2200 mAh. With the switch to the psp 2000 they managed to shrink and make it more energy efficient, so you got the same battery capacity from a 1200 mAh battery that you got from the old one. They also doubled the clock speed of the cpu to 333 Mhz at the same time. Now by using a 2200 (or 2400 mAh battery - legit ones exist) battery on the slim, you pretty much double the capacity alone. You can run games at the old clock speed and get some more juice out of it, or for MP3s using a homebrew player or the Hold+ plugin you can completely turn off the screen and clock down the cpu to 33Mhz.

As for the ipod argument - I agree it's a better music player due to the storage capacity, but it's ultimately one more device to carry around. With the PSP you have a more diverse device that can not only play videos (on a bigger screen than any ipod) and music on, but you also have PSP games, PS1 games, emulators etc. If you're unhappy with say the game music you can use IRShell to multitask so you can still play your favorite music while playing a game - you can also switch to reading a book or the web. I don't know about your geek Bat Belt, but I'd like to reduce the number of items and weight distribution to just the essentials, and the PSP is one of the items I'm sticking with if I'm on the move.

[ADC]

I don't know about your geek Bat Belt, but I'd like to reduce the number of items and weight distribution to just the essentials, and the PSP is one of the items I'm sticking with if I'm on the move.
I leave the PSP and the DS in the backpack with the MacBook (or at home), but I always have the iPod shuffle clipped to my shirt and the iPhone in my pocket. (The shuffle's far more likely to start conversations with girls. This is the games forum, so you should all pay attention. To recap: The iPod shuffle is a babe magnet. This applies certainly to the second-generation model, but the third-generation "Buttons? Where we're going, we don't need … buttons" model should work as well.)

[Fieri]

I don't know about your geek Bat Belt, but I'd like to reduce the number of items and weight distribution to just the essentials, and the PSP is one of the items I'm sticking with if I'm on the move.
I leave the PSP and the DS in the backpack with the MacBook (or at home), but I always have the iPod shuffle clipped to my shirt and the iPhone in my pocket. (The shuffle's far more likely to start conversations with girls. This is the games forum, so you should all pay attention. To recap: The iPod shuffle is a babe magnet. This applies certainly to the second-generation model, but the third-generation "Buttons? Where we're going, we don't need … buttons" model should work as well.)

It's no use..... it seems guys prefer to play new games more than having sex....

I don't listen to music that much so I just carry around one of my handhelds. Seems everything plays music now.....

[Skywise]

It's no use..... it seems guys prefer to play new games more than having sex....

That's not news:

http://kotaku.com/5195248/which-would-you-prefer-new-games-or-sex

Back on topic - the real issue of psp 3k vs 2k is if you can guarantee if you can get a 2k one that's hackable. Here's how you can figure it out:

http://www.psp-homebrew.eu/faq/#How%20do%20I%20figure%20out%20what%20version%20of %20motherboard%20my%20PSP%20has?

[Fieri]

It's no use..... it seems guys prefer to play new games more than having sex....

That's not news:

http://kotaku.com/5195248/which-would-you-prefer-new-games-or-sex



Totally unscientific survey :P But I just happened to read it before browsing the forums. ;)

I found the review I was looking for....

IGN Review (http://gear.ign.com/articles/923/923225p1.html)

Just keep in mind though that those that actually have the 3000 version say that it's not as bad as IGN is making it out to be. That said, it seems each version has it's pros and cons. As for me I was thinking about getting the 2000 version... until I noticed all those colors. Decisions, decisions... should I get the Japanese version or the US version.....

And here's another review (http://gizmodo.com/5067781/sony-psp-3000-review).

[Kaikou]

What're the battery life and recharge times like on the 2000?
With the screen on its lowest brightness setting and WiFi switched off, the 2000 gets 4–5 hours per charge, then takes about three hours to recharge to full.

Only if you use the slim battery that comes with the console. Just get a regular standard size battery (2200/2400 mAh), either with a new battery cover or add a protective skin so you can't see the battery, and it'll easily last 12 hours of use per charge - much longer if you use it to say play mp3s with the screen turned off and the cpu clocked down. A cover/skin is not really needed to keep the big battery in place by the way, but just for cosmetic effect.

None of the PSP 3000 models can run hacked firmware by the way, while most of the 2000 models (with the exception of the last model to come out) can. The advantages of hacking is the ability to use homebrew software and the ability to play _any_ PS1 and PSP games you own from the memory stick. Here's some very basic suggestions for homebrew:

http://pspupdates.qj.net/QuickJump-QuickGuide-8-QJ-s-Most-Useful-PSP-Homebrew-Applications/pg/49/aid/129905

If you want to use the TV out, you'll definitely want to get a hackable PSP so you can use FuSa: http://foosa.do.am/

Edit:

Removed url to an April Fool's joke.

[Consignia]

Actually the PSP3000 is fully hackable via an exploit in Phantasy Star Portable.

Information located on QJ.net:
http://tiny.cc/d3mvP

That's an April Fool.

[Kaikou]

That's an April Fool.

Caught me off guard, as in the past this site hadn't participated in April Fools and I didn't read the comments.

[boogiecat]

The PSP 3000 Series is actually a must buy...