On behalf of everyone at the LYN PSP Community, I thought I'd do us all a favour and write a short guide to buying the PSP for the first timers. The reason why I want to make this a new topic instead of an addition to the already present FAQ at the PSP Community Thread is because new visitors don't really read the whole FAQ (which at the moment does not include a buying guide), and Kite posted a PS2, XB and GC buying guide here instead of being in their respective sections, so I present to you, the PSP First Time Buyers Guide.

The 411, The Consoles On The Market
With the release of the new Asian PSP consoles, these babies now come in three flavours, NTSC/J, NTSC/UC and NTSC/J Asia. Breakdown...

NTSC/J aka PSP1000/PSP1000K
NTSC/J consoles are Region Code 2 locked, this means that the console will only play Region Code 2 UMD Movies or Audio discs. With this, you should already know that games, though include the region tag, does not play the region coding game. Standard package, Value Pack includes the console itself, a 32MB Memory Stick PRO Duo, power cable (2 pin USA socket pattern), adapter, manual, battery, standard issue earphones, wired remote, soft case and hand strap.. Prices for NTSC/J PSP's are from RM950-RM1020, anything higher than this, then it's not very acceptable and you should engage in negotiation, as NTSC/UC consoles will be selling for somewhere around there too, I'll story about this later. Note that the price above is without games, if with a game, it will most probably be around RM1100-1170, and the game will most of the time be of course, Ridge Racers, otherwise, you can choose the game. If you're lucky enough, you may be able to spot a standard pack which doesn't include the earphones and wired remote, surprisingly, this may be more expensive than a Value Pack, mainly because standard packs were first time imports and costed a hefty price for stores, later batches including other region PSPs don't come in standard pack state.

NTSC/UC aka PSP1001K
North American consoles, henceforth they are Region Code 1 locked and will only play Region Code 1 UMD Movies or Audio. Standard package includes the console, 32MB Memory Stick PRO Duo, power cable (2 pin USA socket pattern), adapter, manual, battery, standard issue earphones, wired remote, soft case, hand strap and an added item to the package, a piece of cloth for the sake of wiping your smudged parts on the PSP, who doesn't want a shiny PSP? At first, the first 1 million NTSC/UC consoles came with a free UMD movie, Spiderman 2 and was retailing for USD249.90, but from the price budge of the absence of the UMD now, it's pretty obvious that retailers in KL were taking the free UMD as a premium and charging customers more than what they should charge them. But don't fret, as now, the 1 million has passed, and units without the UMD are already all over the market, you can still however find packages with the UMD. Moving on, NTSC/UC PSPs (Value Pack) prices range anywhere from RM1100 to RM11700 (amd: currently, some stores carry the version with the Spiderman 2 UMD, and it's only going to last for a very very limited time, and the price is roughly around RM1200) depending on where you get it from, this isn't exactly a bargain but that's the current market price for it, many predict the price will lower down once the PSP is officially launched in Malaysia. A Value Pack with Spiderman 2 may cost anywhere from RM1200 to RM1450.

NTSC/J Asia aka PSP1006K
The new kids on the block, the NTSC/J Asia consoles are Region Code 3 coded as as you can tell, is coded according to South East Asia's region coding standards. Value Pack package includes the console, 32MB Memory Stick PRO Duo, power cable (3 pin Asian socket pattern), adapter, manual, battery, standard issue earphones, wired remote, soft case, hand strap and wiping cloth, basically exactly the same as the NTSC/UC package except for the power cable. Not every retailer has these units right now as they're new on the market, but if you're able to find them, they would probably run you down about RM1150 to RM1250, and if you get one from DjiNn, you can get a free game (fixed) for RM1210. The prices of these console are also expected to be lowered when the PSP is officially launched in Malaysia.

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Expect to see European and Korean consoles popping up on the market just as soon as they're released, which is very very soon, for every console, earlier batches have the console made in Japan, but keep in mind future batches will be made in Taiwan (Hon Hai Precision) or China (TBC), if you're a very labour-quality concerned person, it's time that you get a PSP now. About the LCDs that these consoles use, no solid news has been produced about the manufacturer but most of the units are said to be made by Sharp, and not Samsung as hyped previously, this should NOT be a main factor to buying as it does not matter who makes the LCD, it's still graphically stunning and the questioned latencies only apply to neat-freaks who can notice that millisecond latency framing produced by the LCD. We'll talk about dead pixels in another section later.

The Fuel. UMD Games, Movies and Audio

Games



UMD Games comes either in Region 2 or Region 1 only for now, when I say Region 1 and 2, I don't mean you can only play them on their respective consoles, but what I actually mean is, Region 1 games are North American games and is most probably in English, and Region 2 games are Japanese games and is most probably in the Japanese language. There is no real MSRP for these games, but most shops tag the games for RM299, never trust this price, you can bargain down the price for any game. For example, Japanese games now have a standard price of RM190, but you can sometimes get them for as low as RM160 due to the demand : supply ratio lowering. North American games also follow the same rules, most Region Code 1 games are RM190, but titles published by Electronic Arts are known to be higher by RM30-40 depending on the title, if you're lucky enough, you can bump into an EA game like Need For Speed Underground : Rivals for below RM200, other than that is a long shot. Other region games will be popping up in the market soon.

Addendum :-
You will not be able to play WiFi battles with the same game if it is from a different region, for example, you will not be able to play a WiFi battle with your friend if you have a JP copy of Ridge Racers and he/she has a US/NA copy of Ridge Racers, please take note however, that the consoles do NOT count in this!

Movies



Current UMD Movies comes in Region Code 1 and 2 only, some retailers are pricing Region Code 1 Movies at RM100-130 while others may price them for higher, it has been said that the retail price for Region Code 1 movies is USD29.90 and at the moment there are no premium titles that may allow the price to be higher. Anime or premium titles in Region Code 2 may cost you a little bit more than what it is in Region Code 1 form, but the prices may have changed and at the moment, I am not able to confirm with you on such information, so don't take my word for it! Such UMD movies as Spiderman 2, Hellboy, XXX, Resident Evil are available on the market now.

Audio
At the moment, there are no UMD Audio publications available on the market.

The Silent Killers, Storage Solutions.
As you should know, the PSP uses Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo media format for storage of game saves, updates, enhancements, pictures, movable data, video and what not. So really, what can you do with a huge Memory Stick? You can choose to dump songs, pre-encoded videos, pictures, magazines and ebooks with help of software already available on the Internet, refer to the PSP Community's FAQ for this. How big of a Memory Stick will you need, and for what use? We will see here. If you're going to load a lot/full featured self-encoded videos and audio files for your viewing and listening pleasure on your PSP, you're recommended to get a 512MB or 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. A 1GB stick can hold up to 3 high quality, full length movies, up to 200 MP3s (average size of 4MB) or thousands of high quality features. Currently, Sony, Sandisk and Lexar are the major companies that makes the Memory Stick media, but for the PRO Duos, you're looking to focus only at Sony and Sandisk for the best prices and performance. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that the Memory Stick that you will be purchasing must have a MagicGate label on it to allow you to transfer all of your MP3s on it, I will let you Google it yourself to find the reason why. Breakdown of your best bets...



Sony 1GB/512MB/256MB High Speed Memory Stick PRO Duo
Currently, this is the leading Memory Stick for usage on the PSP because of a few things. First, it's having the fastest read/write speed amongst the others, coming in at an amazing 80Mbps/sec, perfect for transferring a large amount of audio files or large sized videos. Retail price for this 1GB stick is RM899 while the 512MB and 256MB stick is RM459 and RM279 respectively, but you'll be able to find it for RM780, RM430 and RM240, respectively or less in the market, try Lowyat Plaza for starters.



Sandisk 1GB/512MB/256MB Colorful/Blue Color Memory Stick PRO Duo
Best value for performance stick, though I cannot tell you the exact transfer speed as there is none on paper, I would say it's a good chance that it's around 1-4MB/sec, yeap you're not gonna get a road runner here, folks, but the price is significantly lower than the Sony coming in at the lowest figure being RM560 or USD129.90 online. 512MB version will be much lesser ranging in from RM270-RM320. 256MB version now selling for as low as RM190.

Sony 512MB/256MB Purple/White Memory Stick Duo
Basically, these cards are simply Sony's value cards, so I will not elaborate much about it, 512MB version is RM399, 256MB version is RM249 and 128MB is RM149, these are SRP price, you're able to find them at stores for RM340, RM220 and RM140 (respectively) or less.

Misc/Accessories
Not much information to be added here, I'll add more as it comes by or is requested.

Screen Protectors
Martin Fields Overlay Protector, Hori, Miyavix, Brando, JavoEdge, Capdase, so which one are you supposed to get, really? Based on my personal encounter with these screen protectors, let's just say that the Martin Fields is and always will be the best for performance and value for money, this little piece of magic not only protects your screen but also increases the clarity in the display, it's simply brilliant! Available for RM50 at Digital Stuff, Lowyat Plaza. Miyavix, Brando and JavoEdge are the one of the few that have released a screen protector that protects your whole PSP and not just the screen, but display has been known to be milky, so conform to this at your own risk! They run you down about RM50-60 depending on where you get it. Hori is one of the first few companies to release a screen protector especially made for the PSP, it's clear in clarity but has been known to be difficult to apply as it's very thin, available for RM40 or less in retail gaming stores, same goes for Capdase.

Dead Pixel Breach
Dead pixels are simply put, burnt, faulty or overworked pixels in an LCD. Though a pixel is smaller than your average head of an ant, some if not all gamers want the best out of their LCD as dead pixels may distrupt their gaming experience. You can use these methods on any LCD, but since this is a PSP guide, I'll be teaching you how to detect dead pixels in a PSP LCD and what you can do about it. First, looks, a dead pixel can be either a thick black pimple or a simple pixel displaying a color it shouldn't be displaying. For example, if you find a strange looking dot in your LCD, and it's green in color when the screen is displaying a red colored picture or canvas, then that is a faulty pixel, it's not dead yet, but is overworked to the minimum. Dead pixels however, are black dots and is very noticeable in any situation as it's literally bigger than faulty pixels, in this case, you will not need anything else except for sharp eyes to detect them. For faulty pixels, it may be displayed in some backgrounds and may not in others, for your first encounter with the console, by doing it yourself or asking for assistance from the storekeeper, change the system clock's month to August, this will cause the background color to be BLUE in color, this has been said to be the easiest colored background for you to find faulty pixels, but being safe is always better than being sorry, so after you're done with August, cycle through other months as each of the system clock's months have a unique color to it, like GREEN and GRAY, make sure you take your time doing this as it's not very easy to detect the faulty pixels.

Guys, always remember, for anything you buy, engage in negotiation, it won't hurt and the storekeeper won't bite you, I'm stressing on this because I find that way too many people are having their throats cut because there's no proper price guide for the consoles itself, games or even accessories, take note.

That's it for now, if there are any errors in information, or typos, I'm very sorry, just let me know and I'll update the guide. I'll be adding information and writeups to this post frequently, so check back later for more stuff that's added, if you would like me to post one of your own writeups, just let me know too. Kite or H@H@, I seriously had no idea where to post this but I'll start here to get your attention, just move it or pin it or whatsoever to wherever it should be, I don't mind at all.

Any other questions regarding after purchase enhancements? Proceed to the

LYN PSP Community Thread (V4)
LYN PSP Community Thread (V5)

Edit by Kite :
Well Done Andy !
Please bear in mind that only information / guide related info shall post in this thread, other then that , i believe it is better to post it at PSP subsection.
Thanks

This post has been edited by Kite: Jul 18 2005, 09:02 AM

Andy,
Correction: Future PSP will be made in Taiwan, not China. I think...



This post has been edited by nairud: Jun 7 2005, 09:45 AM

Oops, my bad, I have edited the article, thanks nairud

Andy.... put some pictures... kasi meriah sikit.. anyway, good job...

Ninja, request underway

Also, to be added to the article is Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo Non-High Speed cards, just as soon as I collect enough information on em

Thanks man. It's really informative.

Thankie That's what I want it to be

I have printed this article .. if u dun mind Andy. Some of my fren lazy to surf the net for the information. Currently my office got forum (using company LAN server ) ... i will post there with ur permission ofcuz.

No problem, go ahead

out long time d, not for MY market anyway.

This post has been edited by ticke: Jun 13 2005, 11:55 AM

When I said market, I was literally referring to our market, or else the prices I state would be in USD

Nice guide! Very useful! can't wait to get a psp..wait for money to grow in bank...then PSP...you're MINE!

Superb guide for all future psp owner. Kudos for such great work!

Btw would you mind post some on-line game purchasing website such as playasia or Lik-Sang? Who knows new owner might wanna get their games through online purchasing.

Kudos to Andy

I found the info informative. Much appreciated. Thanks.

now i'm abit confused, will the machines made in japan be abit more valuable when they shift production to taiwan later?

Nice guide there man, clean and clear..

thanks guys

This post has been edited by andy: Jul 5 2005, 06:48 PM

great guide, kudos to u man

please advise regarding psp console's warranty as how they work? if something goes wrong the shop will bring it back to sony malaysia? and no charges will incur if warranty covers the faulty unit? fear buying a value pack at a good price but later on will have problem in this issue.. please help..