Questions from a first time PSP owner

[Atomic Dog]

As an anniversary gift my wife gave me a PSP and a copy of force unleashed yesterday. :rock

 

Although I've wanted one for some time I haven't really read up on them and I have some questions.

 

1. What size memory stick would you suggest? I think Circuit City has 4 gig cards for about $40 right now. The 8 gig cards are also on sale, but is there a need for a card that big? You can buy games from PSN as downloads, right? How much space do they take up?

 

2. From a quick browse through some threads on here it looks like I can maybe rip my DVDs to be able to watch on it as well. Is that hard to do, and how do you get them from the computer to the PSP?

 

3. Any other cool stuff that can be done with this thing? It's all about the gaming, but the other stuff is certainly a bonus...

 

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated too. I've already got a pretty good list started of games to check out from this forum.

[Romier S]

1. What size memory stick would you suggest? I think Circuit City has 4 gig cards for about $40 right now. The 8 gig cards are also on sale, but is there a need for a card that big? You can buy games from PSN as downloads, right? How much space do they take up?

 

2. From a quick browse through some threads on here it looks like I can maybe rip my DVDs to be able to watch on it as well. Is that hard to do, and how do you get them from the computer to the PSP?

 

3. Any other cool stuff that can be done with this thing? It's all about the gaming, but the other stuff is certainly a bonus...

1. I've had a 4GB stick for quite some time and have been happy with the space. Though I don't download too many games from the PSN to be frank. If you think you'll be looking to download a bunch though - you'll want something bigger. Most games range from 500MB-1GB (at least in so far as downloadable PSP software is concerned).

 

2. It's not hard to do, you just need software to convert the films into the proper PSP format. You can do a google search for several pieces of software that will do what you want.

 

3. Mod it immediately. It's a little more difficult to do with the Slim line but its worth it. You can put emulators on there and play games from the SNES, Genesis, Atari and a slew of other platforms. Not to mention rip and play PSX games. A modded PSP is almost a must if you want to get the most out of the system.

[Lutter]

Yeah... the best thing about the PSP is modding it.

 

I got it on launch day (sold it since then) and it was really easy to do... they've probably made it much more difficult by now

 

Only thing I didn't like about it was the size of it (not very pocketable)... but that might be different with the "slim"

[GreenMonkey]

 

3. Mod it immediately. It's a little more difficult to do with the Slim line but its worth it. You can put emulators on there and play games from the SNES, Genesis, Atari and a slew of other platforms. Not to mention rip and play PSX games. A modded PSP is almost a must if you want to get the most out of the system.

 

:tu

 

I really only bought mine for modding and a very few PSP games I wanted to play. Portable NES/SNES :rock. I also dumped a few of my favorite PS1 games onto it as Romier mentions.

 

 

A few memory stick deals for you:

 

8GB Lexar for $39.99 + shipping

 

http://shop1.frys.com/product/5495639?site=sa:Hard%20Drives%20Memory:Spot5

 

Newegg 4GB Sandisk:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171130

$29.99 shipped

[OzzelsCousinFred]

if you want to watch much video, or have a lot of MP3s you need to pretty much invest in at Least 4 gigs (if not 8). If all you are doing is gaming, a gig stick will cover you nicely. (2 if you want a handful of MP3s on it). But video or lots of mp3s, or downloaded games = buy bigger card.

 

Video will run you a significant amount of space, as would downloaded games - so investing in a decent size card is important. I have 2 4 megs, and occassionally need to delete files for space. If you can swing a reasonably priced 8 gig, it may be worth it. IMO

 

Ripping video to the PSP isn't necessarily hard, but it can be frustrating, aggrivating, and time consuming (at least at first). A fair amount of patience will see you through the technical elements of the process. (in part because you have to rescale the video to fit the PSP, and time wise in part because you have to transfer it over to the PC first, then to the PSP after)

[Atomic Dog]

Thanks for the info, everybody. I snagged the 4 gig card from my digital camera for now. I don't know that I'll ever do much downloading of games anyways, or add music for that matter. Maybe demos, which are only temporary anyhow.

 

It seems like there are an abundance of older games that I should be able to pick up fairly cheap at this point, so I'll have my hands full for a while.

 

Probably I will try my hand at ripping my DVDs eventually, just for the occasional travel use, but don't necessarily need that now. I've got a friend with a pretty healthy stash of UMD movies anyways, so I can just borrow his.

 

Haven't had a chance to do much with it yet other than do an online update and fire up Star Wars long enough to make Vader run around in circles and smash a few things real quick. Looking forward to it, though.