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General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: UPRC on June 26, 2009, 11:08:39 am

Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 26, 2009, 11:08:39 am
So, here's the deal. Today after work, I plan on buying a PSP. I want to play a few PS1 classics on the go and I want something to tinker with over the weekend.

I need to know something, though. First, what does the PSP use for saving games and the like? Does it just use standard SD cards?

Second, does the PSP have any kind of a hard drive in it? I love running games off of my PS3 that I have installed (ones that I have downloaded from the Playstation Store) and I am wondering if the PSP has the same capability? If it does, how much space does it have without buying an HD or further cards for more storage?

I am also wondering about the PSP's XMB. Is it set up the same as the PS3's XMB? How does internet surfing and the Playstation Store work on the PSP?
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Vellfire on June 26, 2009, 11:43:34 am
it uses memory stick duo cards iirc but it's been too long since i used one to answer the rest of those
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Christophomicus on June 26, 2009, 12:21:03 pm
No hard drive, but iirc the new PSP GO! that's coming out sometime soon (maybe this year, maybe next? haven't payed attention) does BUT I don't really know (don't quote me on it!), haven't looked into it. The XMB is much the same as the PS3's, I dunno, easiest way to put it. Haven't tried out the playstation store on it yet.

DietCoke keeps linking to some sort of spiffy thing to get massive storage on your PSP using two Pro Duo cards and some combiner thing or something on ebay? Well I've seen him link it at least twice so I'll go look for that for you.

EDIT: For chrissakes don't "upgrade" to the newest official firmware if you want to hack it for homebrew.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 26, 2009, 12:33:25 pm
Yeah, I've read up a tiny bit on the whole homebrew/firmware problem. I don't intend on playing any actual PSP games for a little while. I mostly just want to transfer the PS1 Classics that I have on my PS3 over because I think that they'd be more enjoyable to play on a handheld.

Also emulating SNES rom hacks on it sounds pretty enjoyable too.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: NES Player on June 26, 2009, 12:46:59 pm
So, here's the deal. Today after work, I plan on buying a PSP. I want to play a few PS1 classics on the go and I want something to tinker with over the weekend.

I need to know something, though. First, what does the PSP use for saving games and the like? Does it just use standard SD cards?

Second, does the PSP have any kind of a hard drive in it? I love running games off of my PS3 that I have installed (ones that I have downloaded from the Playstation Store) and I am wondering if the PSP has the same capability? If it does, how much space does it have without buying an HD or further cards for more storage?

I am also wondering about the PSP's XMB. Is it set up the same as the PS3's XMB? How does internet surfing and the Playstation Store work on the PSP?
The older PSPs include a 32MB memory stick duo, but the newer ones include a 2GB stick (if I am not mistaken that is). Yes you can run games stored on your memory stick like the hard drive in your PS3. No it doesn't have a hard drive.

The XMB on the PSP is essentially the same as the one on the PS3. Browsing the Internet on a PSP, well I haven't done this in awhile, but I kinda remember typing on it is rather painful.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: SupremeWarrior on June 26, 2009, 02:29:35 pm
I'll try to answer the browsing on the internet one. Browsing the internet using the PSP is alright once you get used to inputting letters and the like, Example: If you want to input www.google.com, you would have to put it in like a text message, you have to scroll to the letter you want and then press the R button to move the cursor and doing so deselects the current letter otherwise if you select another letter the previous letter will be deleted and the current letter will only be shown.

When accessing web pages it's easy because theres a cursor in the form of a hand and you can use the D pad to go right, left, up and down which will move the cursor to the links, you can't save pictures or anything though at least from what I have tried.

EDIT: You can also bookmark websites, and save them just like your favourites on a computer!
EDIT 2: Oh, wait you can save images, you have to press Triangle first then go to file and select Save Image.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 26, 2009, 03:24:56 pm
Sounds almost exactly like the PS3 browser then. That's good to hear.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 26, 2009, 03:35:21 pm
You can get an 8 gig stick for peanuts on ebay, that's what I did when I got mine for free off my dad.

You CAN crack the new PSP-3000 to play games off the memory stick now but it is not as well documented. Installing custom firmware can be done quite easily but there are one or two things you need to set up in order to allow good compatibility with PS1 games. Some PS1 games work better with different firmwares and there is a program called "popsloader" that you can use to set the firmware on game startup. Games such as FF7 and FF8 require this (unless you don't hack your PSP but then the number of PSX games you can play is very limited to the ones on PSN).

Playing Abe's Oddysee on PSP is one of the best gaming experiences I've had so far in 2009. I am currently playing though FF8 and it's a blast. I own all these games for my PSX but it croaked long ago and I can't be arsed sitting in my living room to play them. It's nice to be able to flip on your PSP when you go for a crap, play a bit of game then turn it off again. It has a sleep mode that is very useful.

If you need any help installing custom firmware psphacks has tutorials and there are youtube videos too. Generally, the older the PSP you get the easier it is to install CFW.

Don't bother waiting for the PSP go. That would be a massive waste of money.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 26, 2009, 04:06:23 pm
Don't bother waiting for the PSP go. That would be a massive waste of money.
Well, I don't think that the PSP Go is an issue unless it is miraculously released and shipped before I leave work today, since that's when I'll be picking a PSP up.

But yeah, I won't be interested in mucking around with the firmware or anything too quickly, but I'm sure that I will be down the road.


Another question. What kind of USB cable does the PSP use to plug into a computer, and is it provided with the PSP itself?
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 26, 2009, 05:57:09 pm
The same USB cable the PS3 controllers have.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: SupremeWarrior on June 26, 2009, 06:33:57 pm
The PSP uses this cable, one end has a mini USB and the other has a normal sized USB. I bought mine off my friend so it came with it but he said it did not come with the whole package.

(http://www.potone.com/products/PSP-Accessories/pic/USB%20Cable%20for%20PSP.jpg)
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: aarn321 on June 26, 2009, 06:51:44 pm
I got a PSP for a gift, I loved it, until it broke :(
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: jman00 on June 27, 2009, 03:49:30 am
PSP's aren't too bad, just a word of advice... don't use it as an MP3 player while workin' it'll break more quickly that way. Personal experience. XD
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: maladroithim on June 28, 2009, 04:41:05 pm
Your PSP will come with a 1 GB stick, so that will get you started.  You will need to buy another stick, though, because even some PSP downloads are over 1 GB (and whether or not you run custom firmware, you will be downloading all PSP games starting in a few months).  It uses an SD card, but it is a proprietary type that is grossly overpriced.  It is similar to XBox360 hard drives.

Even though you said you aren't interested in PSP games right away, I really really really recommend Jeanne d'Arc.  It's phenomenal and I think you will like it because you seem to like games of that type.  Also it is old so it is cheap and you won't need to update firmware.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 28, 2009, 10:35:46 pm
Yeah, well, I bought the PSP Friday. I said to hell with homebrew and all that crap and went with a used slim PSP which is in pretty amazing shape. I poked around on it and it looks like the previous owner only used it to play Madden 2009 or something.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Eltee on June 29, 2009, 12:21:35 am
shame

homebrew is the best part of PSPs
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 29, 2009, 02:42:01 am
What psp model is it? Mine's a 1003
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 29, 2009, 12:21:08 pm
What psp model is it? Mine's a 1003
To be honest, I have no idea. I've been trying to figure it out myself. All I know is that it's a pretty new Slim model.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Tau on June 29, 2009, 10:16:12 pm
Is it actually a Slim/Lite version or the new PSP3000 because you can easily crack them with a Pandoras battery. I  was fortunate to get an old PSP so homebrew was a sinch for me. Custom Firmware is all I really use my PSP for nowadays as I enjoy being able to play Final Fantasy IX or Chrono Trigger, Mario KartGBA, etc on the bus, car, etc.

I don't actually download any PSP games for my PSP though. I prefer owning the actual games for the system but don't care about older games. Definately get Wipeout Pure/Pulse if youwant an excellent racing game on the go.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 29, 2009, 11:32:20 pm
100% certain that it's a 2000, not 1000 or 3000.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 29, 2009, 11:33:59 pm
They can be hacked easily by software. You just need an 8 gig memory card to make it worthwhile and you're set.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 29, 2009, 11:35:40 pm
Yeah, I was looking into it Sunday night and I really have no idea how to go about doing ANY of that.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 29, 2009, 11:37:52 pm
http://pspslimhacks.com/easy-chickhen-custom-firmware-installer-without-pandora/
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: UPRC on June 29, 2009, 11:40:49 pm
Interesting, but....

Quote
1. Check and triple check you have a hackable PSP that will accept
custom firmware flashing without resulting in a BRICKED PSP. Make sure you have a PSP with a TA88v2 or below only + or TAv90v1. If your PSP has a TA88v3 or above or is a PSP-3000 DO NOT proceed!!! You will brick your PSP.
How do  figure this out without owning the original box?

EDIT: Okay, so I tried all that and when I select the ChickHEN picture, absolutely nothing at all happens.
Title: Help me out here, I'm buying a PSP.
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 30, 2009, 01:02:41 am
it just requires a lot of trial and error really, there's a thread on that site with pics that work better with different models of PSP. If you can't make sure your PSP is not a dodgy unhackable mobo then don't bother. There are threads there with the serial number ranges and the mobos listed, you just got to do your research. Took me a night of fannying around finding the right pic to hack it etc but it was worth it.