Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable)
Until now, the hand-held gaming field has been dominated by Nintendo products, but the PSP, a portable version of the PS2, is a strong alternative. Not only is it a gaming system, but you can store pictures, surf the Internet, and play music and video files on it. Interested?
The Good - The most graphically advanced hand-held system on the market. The PSP makes tech-heads drool, and causes grateful grandchildren to fall at the feet of ultra-hip grandparents who give them as gifts.
- System hardware can be upgraded online for free. Those wily Sony folks are always coming up with cool new features to add on. Past improvements, which now come with most new PSPs, include web browsers, multiple language support, RSS feeds, flash animation capability and TV viewing.
- Conversely, system downgrades are available from several bootleg sources. Sony updates aimed at stopping piracy also make it much more difficult to get certain things onto your PSP and discourage home-brew gaming. The system downgrades give users more freedom to make their games and get the media they've already got onto their PSP.
- It's the best friend you will ever have while waiting in an airport terminal. While others moan about the latest flight delay, you'll be grooving to your music, laughing at your favourite comedy or mucking around on the Internet.
- Looks so sexy, your significant other may get jealous.
- The shiny wide-screen display doubles as a handy mirror when the system is turned off.
The Bad - Most games are slightly downgraded copies of PS2 titles.
- Pricey, although a recent drop from $250 to $200 makes the PSP less of a bank-breaker. Memory Stick Duo,
 the memory units that work on the device, cost about $100 for 1 gigabyte of memory space.
- Lack of dual analogue sticks makes first-person shooters awkward.
The Ugly - Make sure you've got some cargo pants, because the device won't fit well into standard jeans pockets
- Speaker sound is weak. That can be fixed with amps and headphones.
Specifications - Supports proprietary Universal Media Disc (UMD) format for games and movies. Also can store MPEG4 video formats, MP3, MP4 and WAV files.
- Connects to PCs via a 2.0 mini-USB port.
- PlayStation 2-quality graphics on a 4.3" wide-screen.
PSP Accessories
External Links - YourPSP.com -- The official PSP site.
- PSPMod,cin -- Message boards in which PSP owners share their secrets.
- PSP.Connect.com -- Download the latest updates and videos for the PSP.
- PSPRumors.com -- Keeps track of PSP news and rumours.
- Hacker.co.il -- Describes how to operate Windows and Linux on the device.
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