Let me just break down my confusion...
1. a ipod can not surf the web.
2. a ipod can not play video games.
3. a ipod is not able to play wma, divx, or read word documents, and rss feeds.
4. It cant play flash moves. It cant take pictures, and does not have a hi def screen with a hot sexy gooie.
5. It cant make this post. Is missing manny more feaures I neglected to mention. And it now costs $150 more to even come close.
So why the hell would I buy it?
First PSP post! Fuck Yea! :shakeit:
Well enjoy it. A lot of games are making me pick that thing up for something other than MP3s for the first time in a while.
Check some of my posts here for instructions on hacking the heck out of that thing to play homebrew apps of all stripe.
An ipod can store a lot more music, is smaller, and has longer battery life. An iPhone has a web browser that's actually more easily usable, and can actually be used on the road. Every situation where I am able to use wifi on my PSP to go online, my laptop can do it far better.
Yes, I'd say the iPod is the better MP3 player and the iPhone is the better online navigator. That said, they are too rich for my blood and I have no intention of ever getting them. My PSP has served me perfectly fine for my MP3 needs (a 4 gig stick is more than enough for me), plus it plays games and movies. That's all I need it to do. I know I'm missing out, and I'm not about to pretend I've got a better MP3 player or awesome web browser (that I never use anyway, and it's flash support is limited and very clunky at that, certainly not viable for catching up on Homestar Runner, it can't even download whole cartoons before running out of memory). I'm just able to say that's perfectly fine by me if what I have does what I need it to do. I just set the thing to play some songs, stick it in my pocket, and off I go.
One thing though, since when can a PSP read Word format documents? It can read text files, though there's no normally usable text file reader (or browser for that matter) built into the device and one has to use a round about way via the web browser to do so. I myself use a special homebrew app for viewing text files. It actually can be convenient sometimes to download GameFAQ files and stick them in there that way.
Anyway, if you really want it's "full" feature set to brag about, you'll want to "unlock" it, and ever since they came along with the "pandora battery" hack that actually hacks the BATTERY'S firmware (why it had flashable memory is a mystery to me), every PSP can be unlocked. Note that it requires a rather complicated series of steps. Further, if you have the new model (the so-called "slim", or 2000 model), your battery is unhackable. Also, to even get everything you'll need it requires someone you know with an older PSP, and preferably experience hacking their's. Find someone like that and you're in business. I'd do it (in fact I've got everything prepaired as I've done the steps needed a number of times on various friend's PSPs), but I'm not even remotely close to you. Once it is done though, you can do all manner of tricks like:
-Backing up your PSP games to your memory stick to play them with reduced load times or just to carry a bunch of PSP games around at once.
-Port your PS1 games into an executable game for your PSP's built in emulator to play all manner of those classics on the go (have all the apps you need gathered together that I can send you, them all being freeware, and a link to some sites that give you some custom images and sounds for decorating your app).
-hacking all the visual and audial elements of the interface to your liking
-Playing custom homebrew games from independent game makers like Hexic, a puzzle game that involves "rolling" dice into place and getting combos by making them roll next to each other, in the same number touching each other as appears on the die (6 6's touching, for example), or a fun outer space shooter
-Various utility apps for all sorts of purposes, like directly ripping previous said PSP games, or reading TXT files, or letting you do file transfers wirelessly
-Adding other emulators for playing your old console games on the go without having to buy them AGAIN, for example I found a Super Metroid ROM and a special SNES emulator for the PSP so I could finally play Super Metroid portably. Nintendo dropped the ball, but I don't really mind! Totally legal so long as you own the games in question already (the one caveat being, don't play the console version at the same time as this backup, which honestly I don't see why you'd want to).
-Adding extra apps to play back the media file formats the PSP doesn't support (yet)
-Writing your OWN apps for a portable system. There are a number of homebrew dev kits out there right now. Some have 3D libraries and such. I believe the most common kit is Java based, but there's LUA scripting and other such things available if you want such things.
Sony Meda manger pro 2 available at walmart alows you to view text, word, pdfs, ext with out the firm where hacks. And ill pass on the modding im not making anymore midnight runs to walmart because of a bricked PSP. I like my firmwere just the way it is, stable and from sony. I dont need to hack my battery bad enough to find out it now only charges on tuesdays. PSPs are designed to prevent home brew with good reason. :o
The thing is, it's safe. Once you get that battery hacked, even if you do somehow manage to screw it up, the battery gets you out of it. In fact that's kinda the reason the battery CAN overwrite firmware. It was originally a way for Sony to fix people's systems. It's fine. Never once had a problem myself. This new method can fix ANY firmware issue, every single one, right down to a completely deleted and empty flash (in fact the app wipes the whole flash itself before adding in the hacked firmware). Worst brick I ever saw was shortly after a friend dropped a PSP on concrete. That wasn't firmware related to the best of my knowledge...
The battery while in "hack" mode can't be used as a normal battery as it will now autoboot the PSP into that firmware hack mode every time you insert the battery. The way around that is easy. Power up your PSP without a battery (use the power cable), then insert the battery and run the hack app again (with a newly hacked PSP, you can run it on your own machine). Then just use the option to revert the battery to a normal one. Done.
Still, your choice.
So anyway, that media manager pro thing is actually an application you put on the PSP itself? I thought it was just some app on the PC for "managing" files on a PSP (something I am fully capable of). Oh, thanks for the plug. "Available at Walmart" eh? Cute.
The media manger also sets up the PSP's browser to read documents by installing a special HTML file and some plugins.
Well wish they'd just add those by default, because there's no way I'm actually paying money for a "media manager". I know how to drag and drop.
I also know how to write my own HTML page so I can do that stuff too. Does it really add plugins to view word documents or does it just convert them to TXT files before putting them on the system?
At any rate I still end up using my own homebrew text viewer for that purpose anyway.
No coversion, it views word and PDF in its native format perserving all the formating. It even reformats the document so it fits on the screen. Plus media manager compresses video and does a alsome job.
Plus it does all that other stuff. Well worth $20.