PSP vs. iPod, unpack gallery + comparison shots

J

J. Horwitz

Member
I know this isn't entirely new to those of you who have seen Lik-Sang's photo gallery, but we've put up a large collection of PSP Value Pack unpack photos plus oft-requested clean PSP versus iPod comparison shots. You can get a better sense of the relative sizes of the devices. An iPod mini's even thrown in there for giggles. See backstage.ipodlounge.com for the shots.

Enjoy.
 
ipodlounge_sonypsp29.jpg


*giggle*

Meh
 
The system can't compete with them on compact elegance, and expensive memory sticks and or 1.5ish GB UMDs cannot compare with the base 4GB iPods, the 20 and 40GB iPod, or 40 and 60GB iPod photos.

But the system still looks very attractive. And iPod can't play near PS2 quality games on a nice big screen. A screen that is big but not so big that it makes the thing unweildy...

the comparison is just a little off really.
 
PSP is the sexiest piece of portable machinery created! :D

iPOD portability is nice, but the actual hardware looks bland.
 
Well I think the comparison is made because they are both small, compact, and overlap in some features (music playing).

TV = big

Radio = small
 
The photo iPod is terrible for photos. The PSP beats it hands down. It's clear, if you want to see photos, screw the iPod, it sucks. Get a PSP!
 
iPodloungue, being Apple whores, treat any even ancilliary competition as somethign to be ridiculed. And naturally Sony is a huge target, since a) they're big on portable music and b) they've got ATRRAC and DRM nightmares that make them easy to dismiss.
 
iPodloungue, being Apple whores, treat any even ancilliary competition as somethign to be ridiculed. And naturally Sony is a huge target, since a) they're big on portable music and b) they've got ATRRAC and DRM nightmares that make them easy to dismiss.
Click to expand...
Just read what they say. They've changed the tune a bit:

e skipped covering Nintendo's DS, and the release of Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) only confirms the wisdom of that decision. iPodlounge readers may recall that we were highly skeptical about the PSP some months ago, and we still think it's a major stretch to bill it as an iPod competitor. It's way larger/not really pocketable, can't store music on its own (and uses either UMD media or expensive Sony Memory Stick Duos for storage), and is not going to replace the need for portable music jukeboxes.

But ever since Sony abruptly decided to reverse its internal decision on PSP pricing (originally $330, goes the story, flipped to $200 when Nintendo announced the DS at $150), we've been thinking that Sony is going to wipe the floor with the Nintendo DS unless something highly dramatic happens soon on the DS's price. Sure, the first batch of PSPs has shipped with all sorts of random defects (ranging from dead pixeled screens to cock-eyed disc drives, dust and hairs inside the casing, etc.), but once you're playing a game on one, you're willing to forgive just about anything. We'll have plenty more to say on the PSP in the days to come, but for now, enjoy our new photo gallery.
Click to expand...
 
Exactly ^ ^^ I think their comments are more than fair. Especially as they're hailing the game side of things. The media functionality is a nice extra, but this thing is a bit of a Jack of all Trades... dedicated devices do many of it's tasks easier and better.

The photo iPod is terrible for photos. The PSP beats it hands down. It's clear, if you want to see photos, screw the iPod, it sucks. Get a PSP!
Click to expand...

I can see how this may have been a lighthearted comment, but all the same I'll point out it's not that simple. iPod photo is highly functional as a removable hard-drive for PCs and Macs, you can transport your pictures around and look at them on screen if you want. But it also adds to the audio functionality, syncing albums on your iPod to album art.

Where PSP has a big screen and is cheaper, iPod has umpteen times the storage space without you having to pay out for it on UMD / MemoryStick.

Kuroyume said:
Too bad the IPOD can't play videos...

PSP > IPOD
Click to expand...

It couldn't do photos until recently either. Lest we forget PSP is not out in the west for a while. There will be an iPod that does more than show photo thumbnails and play songs.
 
For music, PSP does not, and can not compete with iPod. If you own an iPod, there's no reason at all to ever even think about using a PSP for playing music. It's just dumb.

That said, PSP is a hundred zillion gajillion times more sexy than iPod could ever hope to be.

iPod used to be sexier to me... I think all the stuffy iPod nerds kind of polluted its image a bit to me. :)
 
radioheadrule83 said:
Exactly ^ ^^ I think their comments are more than fair. Especially as they're hailing the game side of things. The media functionality is a nice extra, but this thing is a bit of a Jack of all Trades... dedicated devices do many of it's tasks easier and better.



I can see how this may have been a lighthearted comment, but all the same I'll point out it's not that simple. iPod photo is highly functional as a removable hard-drive for PCs and Macs, you can transport your pictures around and look at them on screen if you want. But it also adds to the audio functionality, syncing albums on your iPod to album art.

Where PSP has a big screen and is cheaper, iPod has umpteen times the storage space without you having to pay out for it on UMD / MemoryStick.



It couldn't do photos until recently either. Lest we forget PSP is not out in the west for a while. There will be an iPod that does more than show photo thumbnails and play songs.
Click to expand...

It was lighthearted, but if you want to take it more serious, can you take photos from a camera and view it on your iPod? No. You need a computer. At least the PSP allows someone with a Sony camera to take pictures and take the memory stick out and view it on their PSP. So there is at least that advantage in favor of it being a better photo viewer.
 
john tv said:
iPod used to be sexier to me... I think all the stuffy iPod nerds kind of polluted its image a bit to me. :)
Click to expand...
apple fans make apple horrifying. just like any other sort of fanboys, i guess. but apple fans are more pompous.
 
ferricide said:
apple fans make apple horrifying. just like any other sort of fanboys, i guess. but apple fans are more pompous.
Click to expand...
They remind me a bit of Jaguar nerds. Remember them? They were a fun bunch to argue with. If only because it was so easy to make them look like idiots. :)
 
Marty Chinn said:
At least the PSP allows someone with a Sony camera to take pictures and take the memory stick out and view it on their PSP.
Click to expand...
There's also a CompactFlash adapter for Memory Stick Duo media, so you could actually use it in cameras that required CompactFlash as well.
 
Well I agree with you that the PSP has advantages here too. The big screen, high resolution, ability to read files from external media (not having to transport them manually or autosync with a PC/Mac)... that's all good. But I guess I'm saying that personally I'd consider everything about PSP and iPod as media players, and probably side with iPod as an audio/photo/video solution any day. And I think others would/will too. Especially in future iterations that may or may not support video and other things.

As such I can't wait to get a PSP, but I couldn't care less about the extra things it does. I just think media players work excellently if theyre HDD based, or use other really high capacity formats. The less you need, the better. If PSP would have cost me extra for these multi-media pleasures, I'd probably be a little unhappy to be honest, but it was always going to use UMD & memory for games and saves respectively anyway... or use some similar solution. So why not! And like you, I think a lot of people will love it.

Just had to speak up on the "PSP beats it hands down" thing.

I find it amusing that Apple/iPod fans are drawn into discussions on a gaming board at all. It seems they and PSP fans both fear good competition.
 
I completely agree that PSP cannot reasonably compete for music playback, but luckily that's not even it's secondary purpose, but rather tertiary, basically. Still, I like to make use of all the gadgets I have to a fullest extent, so I'll be buying a 1GB memory stick for PSP and putting my favourite music, and some videos on it. When games come out that support custom sundtracks (one or two are already confirmed) the whole thing will make a lot more sense! Also, if some of those early PSP owners are to be believed, the sound quality of the music playback on PSP is excellent, even better than iPod (although that could be due to iPod's less than ideal default earbuds)
 
The iPod/PSP comparison was started by Sony, not by Apple, iPodlounge, or me specifically.

Frankly, as I've said several times publicly, I don't think the devices are comparable at all. At most, they overlap in one or two areas. But Sony is in dire need of an "iPod killer," and since the other four "iPod killer" devices they've released in 2004 failed to do it, now they're putting their hopes on the PSP. Again, not my decision, not my comparison - theirs.

I see room in the world for both devices. And there's not a single person here (or on iPodlounge for that matter) who would argue that Apple will make a gaming platform that comes close to the PSP.
 
john tv said:
For music, PSP does not, and can not compete with iPod. If you own an iPod, there's no reason at all to ever even think about using a PSP for playing music. It's just dumb.
Click to expand...

Actually, all reports I've read indicate that the PSP sound quality is on par with the Sony MP3 walkman which pretty much leaves the iPod for dead.

So for pure storage limits and form factor, sure the iPod wins, but if the PSP flogs the iPod in terms of sound quality (which isn't difficult) then I'd definitely prefer it for music.
 
Why the heck would someone prioritize sound quality on a PORTABLE music player playing LOSSY music above anything else is beyond me. If you're looking for good quality, just buy a portable CD player.
 
Fusebox said:
Actually, all reports I've read indicate that the PSP sound quality is on par with the Sony MP3 walkman which pretty much leaves the iPod for dead.

So for pure storage limits and form factor, sure the iPod wins, but if the PSP flogs the iPod in terms of sound quality (which isn't difficult) then I'd definitely prefer it for music.
Click to expand...
I dunno. For starters, I think the difference in quality will be negligible. iPod sounds good enough for me... how much better does it really need to get? With PSP, you have less storage, a clumsier interface, hardware that's way too big to fit comfortably in your pocket, and sucky battery life. The portability aspect of iPod was a huge factor in my buying one; it's way, way more important to me than a small difference in sound quality. (Plus, it's got 30 times as much storage space as the largest Memory Stick Duo Pro.)
 
john tv said:
I dunno. For starters, I think the difference in quality will be negligible. iPod sounds good enough for me... how much better does it really need to get? With PSP, you have less storage, a clumsier interface, hardware that's way too big to fit comfortably in your pocket, and sucky battery life. The portability aspect of iPod was a huge factor in my buying one; it's way, way more important to me than a small difference in sound quality. (Plus, it's got 30 times as much storage space as the largest Memory Stick Duo Pro.)
Click to expand...

For reference, if you just play mp3s the PSP supposedly lasts 8-10 hours.
 
JohnTV said:
For music, PSP does not, and can not compete with iPod. If you own an iPod, there's no reason at all to ever even think about using a PSP for playing music. It's just dumb.
Click to expand...
Of course it can - just you wait untill someone makes USB driver to use iPod as a PSP harddrive :D
 
What a stupid comparison. Also, the iPod mini is fucking hideous. If such a stupid comparison was going to take place, should have compared it to the standard or photo iPod lines. Ugh.
 
Marconelly said:
Still, I like to make use of all the gadgets I have to a fullest extent, so I'll be buying a 1GB memory stick for PSP and putting my favourite music, and some videos on it. When games come out that support custom sundtracks (one or two are already confirmed) the whole thing will make a lot more sense!
Click to expand...

Same here. I'm not interested in buying an iPod or similar device, because they're rather expensive, and I don't have enough music (that I listen to regularly) to necessitate carrying several gigabytes of storage around with me. No offense to iPod fans--a couple of my friends have them and love them--but it just isn't for me.

However, I wouldn't mind getting a PSP with a good-sized Memory Stick, and throwing a few songs and/or videos on there for kicks. For someone like myself, this would be a good alternative to an iPod or similar product. It's more economical, and also plays photos and video files...and games, of course. :)

I think that's why Sony might be making the comparison. There's definitely room for both devices to coexist, but there is that little bit of overlap, and it's for reasons like I stated above that some people might prefer to get a PSP over the iPod.
 
i think "the comparison" is the oft-quoted "walkman of the 21st century" statement, which i don't think was meant to be taken literally as "portable audio device" but instead as "instantly ubiquitous, revolutionary portable media device made by sony."
 
john tv said:
They remind me a bit of Jaguar nerds. Remember them? They were a fun bunch to argue with. If only because it was so easy to make them look like idiots. :)
Click to expand...

I think we coined that phrase "Jaguar Nerds" when we both worked at EB together. Were you there for the birth of THE jaguar nerd? The one to rule over all other jaguar Nerds? I wish I had a picture of him to use as my Jaguar Nerd template.
 
If I wanted to have a 1 GB or less of music with me, I would go for a good, cheap and small flash player instead of something that's even bigger than my iPod. Memory sticks are too expensive as well and I can think of very little opportunities to use the video playback function, which is why I have never liked the idea of convergence.

Although I think the iPods have better designs, PSP is definitely sexier, if only for the fact that I know in the back of my mind it will probably never be as common as the iPod is now. There is little reason for Sony to make the comparison apart from the fact that they proclaimed PSP to be the "Walkman of the 21st century" and then realised the iPod has already taken that title. They are in need for an iPod killer and I think they're a bit too late. Making a comparison with iPod is good for PSP's image though. Apple's player is obviously already a massive hit with PSP's target audience (and beyond) and associating with it rather than Game Boy makes PSP look 'cooler'.
 
Fusebox said:
Actually, all reports I've read indicate that the PSP sound quality is on par with the Sony MP3 walkman which pretty much leaves the iPod for dead.

So for pure storage limits and form factor, sure the iPod wins, but if the PSP flogs the iPod in terms of sound quality (which isn't difficult) then I'd definitely prefer it for music.
Click to expand...
Better Bass != Better Sound Quality

Though I do miss it at times ;_;
 
iPod used to be sexier to me... I think all the stuffy iPod nerds kind of polluted its image a bit to me.
Click to expand...
Give it 6 months and you'll be saying the same thing about PSP.

Apple nerds > Sony nerds

...if only because all our hardware is sexy (COUGH ps2 COUGH), and we have the money to buy Movados and Armani. ;)
 
Timbuktu said:
Although I think the iPods have better designs, PSP is definitely sexier, if only for the fact that I know in the back of my mind it will probably never be as common as the iPod is now.
Click to expand...

How many iPods have been sold so far? Around April, the total figure was just over 3 million.
 
Again, the PSP music playback, limited in storage as it is, will come into it's own once the games start allowing you to use the custom soundtrack. Once that happens, I don't think people will be complaining about that 'non gaming function' of the device :P

Also, the iPod mini is fucking hideous. If such a stupid comparison was going to take place, should have compared it to the standard or photo iPod lines. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Go look at their gallery, they do have other comparision photos.

if only because all our hardware is sexy (COUGH ps2 COUGH)
Click to expand...
When it was unveiled, the design of PS2 was about as iconic and cool looking as anything Apple has made in a while. It's another thing if you don't see, or want to recognize that.
 
Has Sony started to support MP3 with their 20 GB HDD player?

I saw one at the store the other day and was really wowwed by its compact design. The i-Pod looks bulky in comparision.
 
Agent X said:
How many iPods have been sold so far? Around April, the total figure was just over 3 million.
Click to expand...

I'm not really talking about numbers, it's really how often you see people using them on the street, in the gym, on the train... perhaps it's where I live (London/Cambridge), or maybe the white earbuds are so eye catching. There may be more GBA SPs out there, but you don't see them as often.

Edit: I swear there will be even more after Xmas.
 
Timbuktu said:
I'm not really talking about numbers, it's really how often you see people using them on the street, in the gym, on the train... perhaps it's where I live (London/Cambridge), or maybe the white earbuds are so eye catching. There may be more GBA SPs out there, but you don't see them as often.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I rarely ever see anyone using an iPod except for a couple of my friends, and they generally only use them in their cars. I wouldn't know what the earbuds look like, as I've never seen them in actual use.

I do see people with GBA/GBASP fairly often, though (mostly kids), and a lot of people use Walkman-style stereos, but I've never see anyone (that I didn't know) just walking around with an iPod (at least to the point where I could tell he was using an iPod).
 
When it was unveiled, the design of PS2 was about as iconic and cool looking as anything Apple has made in a while. It's another thing if you don't see, or want to recognize that.
Click to expand...
Err...what the hell are you talking about? The PS2 is hideous.

Secondly, when people come to my house, they "ohh and aahh" at my Apple hardware, not my PS2. :P
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Assassin’s Creed Shadows PS5 vs Switch 2 early graphics comparison
20
834
Heimdall_Xtreme replied
  • Poll
SSD comparison for gaming in 2025: PCIe 5.0 vs 4.0 vs 3.0 vs SATA vs HDD
27
5K
Corporal.Hicks replied
  • Locked
Cronos: The New Dawn - PS5 vs Switch 2 Comparison
2
69
3K
Heimdall_Xtreme replied
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Switch 2 vs Wii Direct Comparison
2 3 4 5
207
3K
Panajev2001a replied
Ghost of Tsushima vs Ghost of Yōtei | Final Gameplay Graphics Comparison
2 3
119
2K
Dirk Benedict replied
Top Bottom