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[miyuru]

Lumines look hot!

The only thing I'm not too sure of about so far is the mp3 playback. If it's good enough to make me stop using my minidisc for it then it's a sure buy.

I'd assume that listening to direct mp3s will result in better quality than on an MD. Even at SP quality, it's really only LP2 when using NetMD. I dunno about Hi-MDs though.

I'd wager the PSP has decent volume, and hopefully an EQ.

 

[Lord Error]

Is the mp3 playback any good?

It's Really good. And I don't mean really good for something that plays games, but seriously, genuinly good. I've got my EX71 earbuds yesterday, and now I find myself listening to some old songs over and over just because they sound so much better than they used to. :lol
With these earbuds, every little nut and crain of the sound is exposed to scrutiny, and PSP's output holds up amazingly well. Not a slightest amp noise (hiss or hum) when the songs get silent, and everything just sounds great in general.

Besides, PSP has aboput 2 hour battery life while watching movies which seriously hampers what movies you can watch, if it goes over 2 hours, you don't get to finish watching it.

From what I remember, specified UMD movie playback is around 4-5 hours, and that's what someone here measured by repeatingly playing the demo trailers over and over - but if you have some data to back up your claim, I'd like to see it.

 

[Miburou]

There you have it.

 

[Mike Works]

But is the PSP really useful?

 

[Link1110]

It's usefulness depends on what you want to do with it. If you feel that it has good games, or you want the MP3 playback/Movie/Picture capability, by all means buy it. I personally can't see using a game system for that stuff, but obviously alot of peopl ehere disagree with me.

 

[BuddyC]

But is the PSP really useful?

Moreso than any portable released in the past, though I'm not sure if that's saying much.

/serious response to joke

 

[newsguy]

90 minutes on a 512MB stick would be at some very nice resolution and quality. I'm usually not as picky about quality when it comes to sitcoms and tv shows in general (as opposed to movies), and I can fit anywhere between 2 to 3 hours of video on my 512Mb stick.

As for mp3 playback, the earphones that come with the PSP are supposedley not the best when it comes to quality, but with better ones I've read that the sound quality is pretty good.

I frequent the encoding thread, but I never saw what quality would give me these results. I'd like to fit a movie on a 256 Mb stick even if the quality is mediocre (until I get a 1 gig stick). What resolution did you get these results with?

 

[mrklaw]

I frequent the encoding thread, but I never saw what quality would give me these results. I'd like to fit a movie on a 256 Mb stick even if the quality is mediocre (until I get a 1 gig stick). What resolution did you get these results with?

I can squeeze 4 movies on a 1Gig stick at 216/15fps. QB4 sometimes gets there too, but its unreliable.

 

[cvxfreak]

miyuru: Based on the info you've given me, I will suggest that you DO NOT get a PSP. For one, if music's your main concern, get one of the slew of mp3 players out there. True, the PSP gives good sound quality, but for example an iPod's functionality is better. Plus I really disagree about it being the epitome of mp3 playback as Marconelly puts it, because it sounds virtually the same as everything else in my house that plays music - but maybe my ears aren't as sensitive. Seeing as you do have a PS2, and all that jazz, then you might as well just stick to your SP for the occasional need of a game. Despite the PSP's great graphics, the SP simply is in a whole 'nother league when it comes to good games (hell, I think the DS has some better games at the moment).

(FYI I do own a PSP myself, but I just haven't glammored and orgasmed from it like many other folks here on GAF. Ah well.)

 

[XMonkey]

also, have you actually held a PSP in your hand and played something like Ridge?
I think that's probably the conversion point for most people.

Totally agree with you here. I let my friend (who was on the fence about a PSP) play Ridge when I got back to school and had my imported PSP and he was absolutely convinced he had to have one after about 3 minutes of playing.

 

[BuddyC]

Despite my shameless self-promotion earlier in the thread, I'm gonna agree with CVX. I mean, if you don't see yourself using the multimedia functions and don't think the games are worth it, what's the point? Just do some playtesting when the demo units hit stores and see what you think.

 

[refreshZ]

I haven't even seen a PSP in person. Chances are I'd spring for it ASAP as I have $700 to deposit right now ^_^ I'm an impulse buyer :S

Don't go anywhere near a PSP then...

 

[thorns]

Why do you have an MD player? I don't see the point. I'm happy sitting at home listening to CDs. I can already do everything an MD player can do, except the MD player is portable.

except that you don't have to rebuy your cds to play them on the md player..

seriously paying $40 for handheld games is bullshit for me. To me they're worth around ~$10 at most, considering the time I spend playing on handhelds (1-2 hours a week at best, if that). And I certainly don't need fancy graphics on it. If I was a heavy traveller though, I would probably look at things differently.

 

[mrklaw]

except that you don't have to rebuy your cds to play them on the md player..

seriously paying $40 for handheld games is bullshit for me. To me they're worth around ~$10 at most, considering the time I spend playing on handhelds (1-2 hours a week at best, if that). And I certainly don't need fancy graphics on it. If I was a heavy traveller though, I would probably look at things differently.

so. Don't. Buy. One.

Easy really.

 

[Lord Error]

Plus I really disagree about it being the epitome of mp3 playback as Marconelly puts it, because it sounds virtually the same as everything else in my house that plays music - but maybe my ears aren't as sensitive.

Maybe. It certainly sounds better than MP3 playback from my Pocket PC (iPaq 1940), a tiny MP3 player owned by my friend, and especially compared to cellphone that I have but don't really use (Motorola MPx200). I would assume it does not sound any better than a good portable CD player, but I couldn't say about the iPod as I never had a chance to put it through paces with good headphones in a nice listening environment. Keep in mind, that you really cannot base any comparision off the stock earbuds that come with many of these devices, including PSP and iPod. I'm basing my observation on listening through Sennheiser PX100 (not very extensively) and Sony EX71 (quite extensively as I own them now) Both are damn good btw, and give surprisingly great sound for their price range (less than $50) and the fact that neither of them are large, over the ear muffed headphones.

seriously paying $40 for handheld games is bullshit for me. To me they're worth around ~$10 at most

You can, if you want, spend no more than $20 on some of the best games for home consoles. Never spend more than that for a game, and always have great games to play. I would imagine same will be true for PSP, 6-12 months after it's release, except the games could be even cheaper. Sure, you don't get to play new games that way, but hey - if it's not important to you to begin with...

 

[mashoutposse]

If you don't like $40 games, simply wait until the "Greatest Hits" period of the PSP's lifecycle -- tons of good/great titles will be available for $25 and under. It's all up to you to decide whether you're willing to trade a couple of years of entertainment for a few dollars.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I'm not sure if this is the same for anyone else, but I've spent way more time on Ridge Racer, Minna no Golf, and Lumines than I have on most portable games. Each game just seems to have a much longer life span so far than the average portable game in the past. Paying $40 doesn't feel so bad. I'm hoping it will be like GBA and SP where games started at $30 to $40 but dropped to an average of $25 to $30.