PSP's

[Mr Ed]

Hi,

Anyone bought a psp in Florida. My ds wants to get one on our next trip. What are the pros and cons?

Cheers

Ed

 

[luke]

Well PSP's are region free on games (meaning US and UK games work on either countries systems) tho not on the UMD movies (meaning if you ever wanted to buy the little film discs for it then you'd have to buy the American ones).

Also, make sure it's definitely what he wants, for what type of games he played. I got a PSP when it first came out, played it for a while (tho it is very uncomfortable to play - hopefully the new "lite" version will be less so!), then when my fiancée got herself a Nintendo DS a year ago, i haven't touched my PSP since, as the DS is a much much superior console in terms of games and fun. That's just my opinion tho

 

[lost_in_hollywood]

Dont

thats the easy answer, i bought one when i went out in 2005 with 2 games, havnt bought a game for it since, the game selection for the PSP is terrible, alrite for storing photos and music i spose but either way it was a waste of $300.

as Luke said get a DS its much more fun and the battery lsts about 4 times as long.

 

[kurgana]

Depends a lot on how old your son is and what kind of games does he like. We have both the DS (my 7 year old daughter's) and the PSP (hubby's), as a general rule I wouldn't buy the PSP for a child under 12 years old, and this is directly connected to the kind of games available for the two consoles (Nintendo's are more kid friendly). This said we are looking into getting the new PSP when we go to WDW in November with the plan of recycling the "old" version for my daughter since she does enjoy playing some PSP games (Shrek the 3rd, LocoRoco, Talkman etc). She is way above her age when it comes to games & computers though.

So pros for the DS:
Superior battery life
More arcadey games
More simulation games (nice for kids, ie Nintendogs, Cooking Mama, Animal Crossing, my daughter loves them all)
Probably more "interactive" thanks to the touch screen that appeals especially to kids

Pros for the PSP:
Technologically superior (much better graphics)
Lots of cool features for viewing photos (you can even get an add-on camera) and listening to music etc
Internet browser, music player etc included
Frequent updates from Sony to get even more nice features
Interacts with the PS3 if you have it
More appealing to older kids and adults (in my opinion) who like adventure/role playing/driving etc games

Price wise for me the DS is overpriced for its technological features. The PSP is one of the coolest things on earth (always in my opinion), the game selection IS limited but then again how many games do you really want to buy for a portable console? The battery life is an issue with the PSP, but I would not let my child play more than 4-5 hours per day anyway...
Regarding buying in the US it is definitely worth it for either console (although I'm going by the italian prices but I guess they are pretty similar in the UK) especially at the moment with the current dollar rate. PSP UMD movies will be region coded but if you are interested in them, you could buy a few while you are over there (the selection should be much wider too) to start with, and you can always buy new ones via internet (that usually end up costing the same, if not less, than buying them locally).

Just my opinion people, I had no intention to offend any DS OR PSP owners and do not want to pick up a fight with anyone (like so often seems to happen in forums when ppl are comparing any video game consoles)

Jo

PS I personally don't find the (old model) PSP any more uncomfortable to play with than the DS

 

[luke]

Price wise for me the DS is overpriced for its technological features.
PS I personally don't find the (old model) PSP any more uncomfortable to play with than the DS

These two things i really have to disagree with, DS i think is very well priced IMO.

And the PSP is a killer, never feel any hand cramps with the DS.

Other than that you've summed it up pretty well (apart from pigeon-holing the PSP as the more grown up of the consoles, soley because of it's superior graphics etc.

Tho as you said, lets keep away from the petty console bickering that befalls some threads on other forums when comparing consoles

 

[Wedgeh]

The PSP is excellent as a general media machine, the screen is beautiful when used to view movies converted on your computer (free software is available, try googling PSP9). However purely for the games library I'd have a DS for sure (conveniently my fiancee has one and I have a PSP so it works out rather nicely : )

 

[schumigirl]

Can`t give any advice about pro`s and cons as i don`t know anything about them......... but my 13 year old son bought the new PSP slim and lite in Walmart on our second day and he loves it. Kept him amused while in restaurants and such. Since we came back he hasn`t even looked at his PS2. He also over the holiday bought about 7 games for it all at very good prices mainly in Millenia Mall.
He did buy an extra battery thingy(don`t know exactly what) something to do with charging in the car as well, I think. That was $40 in Walmart then we saw the same thing in one of the game shops for $20. So returned the walmart one.
He has never complained of hand cramps at all. IN fact my DH is sat with it at the moment while ds is out and haven`t heard a peep from him for last 45 mins
His and his friends, all around 13 opinion of DS is that they think they are more girly. All I know is the PSPlite is the best bargain he`s ever bought.

 

[Mr Ed]

Thanks to everyone for the info. My boy is 13 and dd (10) has a ds so he knows what they are like.

Thanks again.

Ed

 

[christi]

My 16 yr old son had a PSP and my 9 year old daughter a DS. The PSP seems to only be used to surf the net and when my DS wants to play games he borrows the DS!! I think the PSP was a waste of money and the DS is worth its weight in gold!

 

[kurgana]

Other than that you've summed it up pretty well (apart from pigeon-holing the PSP as the more grown up of the consoles, soley because of it's superior graphics etc.

Bad phrasing from my part, sorry, I'm not saying that PSP is more grown up based on the superior graphics at all, but simply because of the games available for the two consoles. And I'm not even saying that the DS does not have games available for the more grown up gamer, just that the games do seem to be aimed at two different groups of gamers (DS is more inclined towards fun games that are easy to pick up even for just 5 minutes while in my opinion most PSP games are more "serious" if you know what I mean).


Another thing I wanted to mention to Mr. Ed was that we originally bought the PSP from Japan when it was first released there nearly 4 years ago that obviously meant that we did not have any kind of official guarantee on it, but we haven't had any problems with it at all (and have used it a lot). I don't know what is Sony's current policy with import consoles but I would guess it hasn't changed much so your guarantee will probably not be valid in the UK; I would check the console well before going back (it is not likely to be anything but perfect but just to be sure) and in case of problems like dead pixels etc go back to the store you bought it from while still in the US. Other than that it sounds like your son knows what he wants, in your place I would definitely seriously consider getting the PSP from the US unless you can find some special deal locally. Let us know if you end up buying it and how much you paid for it

Jo