PSP w/HDD Will Kill The i-Pod

S

soundwave05

Member
OK, I'm officially sold, on the bandwagon, whatever.

I splurged this weekend on a 1 GB Memory Stick Duo, and it just adds so much more to the PSP experience. Its also cool to be able to take my Sony digital camera, take pics and then throw the memory stick back into my PSP and the pictures are right there for viewing.

I think in time, when/if Sony redesigns the PSP and the component sizes of the unit become smaller, they can kill the i-Pod. Mini-HDDs are really small and getting even smaller, so that's really not a huge issue there.

Apple shouldn't exactly be panicing of course, but they should definitely be watching the PSP with a wary eye. Even if they release an i-Pod video ... Apple has no game division, let alone one with the support/know how that Sony has built.
 
Eh... no. It's still much bigger than an iPod, browsing through your songs isn't as good, and it doesn't have iTunes.

It's still a nice unit though.
 
Sony does need to pull their heads out of their asses though and make the screen more protected like the GBA clamshell. People need to be able to throw the PSP in their pockets and really not worry about it for everyday usage, IMO its way too fragile still, even with a skimpy screen protector.
 
A clamshell redesign is what I'm talking about.

It'll make the unit smaller because it would slide the d-pad/buttons/analog/etc. to the bottom side of the unit.
 
It would take a HELLUVA lot more than a harddrive for the PSP to "kill" the iPod. This coming from the owner of both a PSP and a 60gb iPod photo.

The PSP would need to get redesigned from the top down, software and hardware, and get drastically reduced in price. This, of course, assuming than a PSP w/high capacity HDD will already cost significantly more than a regular PSP with a 1gb Memory Stick (~$400)
 
I really hope think Sony's references to "killing iPod" are harkening to a movie download service in the spirit of iTunes, with PSP's as the client.

Better have burnable UMD's, though. Because 1 or 2GB memory sticks and that really wouldn't work out too well.

Also, it'll be a good couple years before an HDD backed PSP is probably feasible. If Sony released it, they'd better charge full price for it, because they're bleeding bad enough as is on the current model.
 
Mejilan said:
It would take a HELLUVA lot more than a harddrive for the PSP to "kill" the iPod. This coming from the owner of both a PSP and a 60gb iPod photo.

The PSP would need to get redesigned from the top down, software and hardware, and get drastically reduced in price. This, of course, assuming than a PSP w/high capacity HDD will already cost significantly more than a regular PSP with a 1gb Memory Stick (~$400)
Click to expand...

Ah, but you're a niche buyer; someone that would shell out for both items...

on the otherhand, for the people that haven't bought into either yet... people like me...

but seriously considering which one to buy, the PSP w/ memstick seems like the better buy... a HD in the PSP would just make it a no brainer for me.
 
If Sony made a PSP with a 20 gig hard drive and sold it for $250, sure, it would kill the iPod. But that ain't gonna happen. :P

PSP will end up replacing the iPod as the "cool handheld device to own," though.
 
Lyte Edge said:
If Sony made a PSP with a 20 gig hard drive and sold it for $250, sure, it would kill the iPod. But that ain't gonna happen. :P

PSP will end up replacing the iPod as the "cool handheld device to own," though.
Click to expand...

I don't even think that'll happen. Comparatively, the PSP is needlessly complex, and people don't like that.
 
True, the iPod's greatest appeal, after style, is simplicity.

Hell, everyone and their mother can figure it out. Are figuring it out.
 
I don't think it's possible to make the PSP into an iPod killing music player. Beyond the huge software and interface advantages apple is always going to have, I think the need for a large screen in a portable game machine means it is largely mutually exclusive from a HDD music player. iPods are only going to get smaller, while the PSP (or similar devices) really never can without taking a huge hit in the quality of the gaming experience (ie smaller screen). Sony should just stick to refining the system's gaming and video applications, which is where the PSP really shines.
 
RevenantKioku said:
I don't even think that'll happen. Comparatively, the PSP is needlessly complex, and people don't like that.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's going to stop the PSP from becoming the "it device" to own. The only thing complex about the system is putting movies on the memory stick; it's pretty self-explanatory when you hook it up to a computer and see folders labeled "music" or "pictures" pop up on the screen.

But yeah, Sony isn't going to be able to compete with MP3 players. They aren't trying to, anyway, and the PSP's strengths are that it does games, movies, pictures, and music all in one device.
 
Lyte Edge said:
I don't think that's going to stop the PSP from becoming the "it device" to own. The only thing complex about the system is putting movies on the memory stick; it's pretty self-explanatory when you hook it up to a computer and see folders labeled "music" or "pictures" pop up on the screen.
Click to expand...

Well, when you finally track down a USB cable for it. :lol
Hey, we're all calling bets here though, but I thought you worked retail, you must have more faith in people than I.

I'm just saying, right now, out of the box, the PSP is a good game player, a crummy MP3 player and barely capable of doing movies. You have to get all the extras to make it work, and I think that hurts it a bit.
 
By the time the PSP gets down to a good price point for decent market penetration I'm sure the next GB or iPod will be on the horizon.
 
jkooXL said:
Sony does need to pull their heads out of their asses though and make the screen more protected like the GBA clamshell. People need to be able to throw the PSP in their pockets and really not worry about it for everyday usage, IMO its way too fragile still, even with a skimpy screen protector.
Click to expand...

Agreed. My Nokia phone has a plastic casing over the screen - goes thrown around ect and the screen is still perfectly mint - not a scuff.

Sony should have reduced the form factor of PSP as well. IMHO the screen size is just overkill. I'd rather have 20% smaller screen for a smaller unit. Ideally what you need is DS style case, but with Sony bling styling.
 
Yeah, I really wish Sony would've gone with a clamshell design...I'm sure they'll release an improved PSP (GBA SP-style) in the future though.
 
Some of the form factor is limited by the size of the UMD mechanism and the space required for the rest of the gubbins.

But I can see the potential for PSP to split off into a couple of models. A large screen PMP type device with HDD and Sony Connect movie downloads (already announced by Sony Pictures), and a smaller screen version of the existing model, slightly more rugged, at a lower price point.
 
Sony needs to write some music software that's worth using before bothering to tackle the iPod with any of their devices. i just installed Sonic Stage 3.0 a couple nights ago. New interface, same problems. It still doesn't recognize variable bitrate MP3s, which almost half of my MP3 collection uses. i had to select individual folders containing groups of MP3s to import because it freezes/crashes while trying to import, which took half an hour for a few thousand MP3s. The interface is still ridiculously sluggish and hard to navigate, unless you only have a few dozen songs.

It's a pity too because ATRAC3 files at 64kbps sound better than MP3s at the same bitrate, yet the only way to use ATRAC3 is to use SonicStage.
 
In response the the thread title:

Yeah, and a Cell phone with a hard drive and PSP-level graphics and games would kill that. Especially if it was a 160GB HD and could stream movies off the internet at broadband speeds.

As long as we're wishing-- I wish I had a pony.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
As long as we're wishing-- I wish I had a pony.
Click to expand...

nopony.jpg
 
Sony is already bleeding enough money for the PSP IMO and comparing PSP and iPod sales would never make sense. iPod is a product that actually makes money, established a new brand from nothing, and broke Apple out of being just a 'computer company'. PSP is a platform, Sony's supposed to make money back from software, so I can't see why it would be in Sony's interest to 'kill the iPod' with a even more bleeding-edge PSP. I mean, they're not a charity, if they are to take the portable video/music market, I'd think they want to make money and not kill their own eletronics division to do so. If Apple is willing to take a loss on the iPod like Sony does on PSP, the iPod would be absolutely everywhere, but that wouldn't make sense for Apple either. If convergence does take off, phones would be more likely to really take advantage rather than PSP, and it's the carriers who hold the power in that arena. So in short, I don't see it happening, not if Sony has any sense anyway.
 
soundwave05 said:
OK, I'm officially sold, on the bandwagon, whatever.

I splurged this weekend on a 1 GB Memory Stick Duo, and it just adds so much more to the PSP experience. Its also cool to be able to take my Sony digital camera, take pics and then throw the memory stick back into my PSP and the pictures are right there for viewing.

I think in time, when/if Sony redesigns the PSP and the component sizes of the unit become smaller, they can kill the i-Pod. Mini-HDDs are really small and getting even smaller, so that's really not a huge issue there.

Apple shouldn't exactly be panicing of course, but they should definitely be watching the PSP with a wary eye. Even if they release an i-Pod video ... Apple has no game division, let alone one with the support/know how that Sony has built.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the laugh just before work starts on a monday morning :lol
 
mrklaw said:
Some of the form factor is limited by the size of the UMD mechanism and the space required for the rest of the gubbins.

But I can see the potential for PSP to split off into a couple of models. A large screen PMP type device with HDD and Sony Connect movie downloads (already announced by Sony Pictures), and a smaller screen version of the existing model, slightly more rugged, at a lower price point.
Click to expand...

Unless the bigger screen version is supposed to be larger than the current version's screen, that's not going to work. Making an LCD smaller while keeping the same number of pixels, as with any circuitry, increases the cost.
 
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