REVIEW - HOW IT WORKS

INSIDE >

Okay so you managed to get it all out of the box, you've put the battery and the memory card in and you've charged it up. That wasn't too hard right?

So what does it do?

Well you turn it on and the following screen appears (click the image for a video clip of the menu system)

Menu System

 

 

 

 

 

 

This first thing that hits you is the sheer brightness of the screen, its incredibly crisp.

You are then presented with the options screen, which in true Sony style doesn't bear any resemblance to those on the PSOne or PS2.

Here is a list of the options (from right to left)

• Game - nicely when you insert a UMD into the PSP after a few seconds it will auto detect it and present some information about the game, as well as a small thumbnail sized video. Sub menus allow you to access the saved game date on the memory card and something called game sharing. Also hinted at is the possibility of stand alone games on the memory card... stayed tuned to see how this develops.
• Video - a standard MPEG4 AVC video player. Click here for instructions on how to put videos on your PSP.
• Music - the PSP has a built in music player that handles MP3 and other formats. The sound is a little tiny from the internal speakers but the headphones make it listenable. You can use the D-pad to fast forward and rewind tracks.
• Photo Viewer - one of the surprises when I started playing around with the PSP was its fantastic photo viewer, you can use the Square button along with the shoulder buttons to rotate the the picture of the analog stick to zoom in and and and then move around the image. Below is a picture I took of Angkor Wat at sunrise, looks good eh?

Image Viewer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Settings - has lots of further sub-menus
  • Network Update - lets you use the Wi-Fi connection to update the firmware from the Sony website, smart eh?
  • USB Connection - so you can connect it to a PC - find out how here
  • Video Settings - allows you to set the languages and UMD video volume
  • Photo Settings
  • System Settings - lets you set the Nickname, gives remaining battery life and other tidbits.
  • Date & Time Settings
  • Power Save Settings - lets you set how long before the back light goes off, auto sleep etc.
  • Sound Settings
  • Security Settings - lets you set a password or parental content lock.
  • Network Settings - set up a Wi-Fi connection.

The PSP in my hands (are my sideburns really that ginger?)