100X

PSP 1000 in Piano Black

  • CPU: 333 Mhz
  • Memory: 32 MB
  • Storage (inbuilt): None
  • External Storage: Memory Stick Duo*
  • UMD Drive: Yes
  • Bluetooth: No
  • Screen Artefacts: Ghosting
  • Battery: 3.6 V 1800 mAh, removable
  • First OS: 1.00

200X

PSP 2000 in Piano Black

  • CPU: 333 Mhz
  • Memory: 64 MB
  • Storage (inbuilt): None
  • External Storage: Memory Stick Duo*
  • UMD Drive: Yes
  • Bluetooth: No
  • Screen Artefacts: Ghosting (reduced)
  • Battery: 3.6 V 1200 mAh, removable
  • First OS: 3.60

300X

PSP 3000 in Silver

  • CPU: 333 Mhz
  • Memory: 64 MB
  • Storage (inbuilt): None
  • External Storage: Memory Stick Duo*
  • UMD Drive: Yes
  • Bluetooth: No
  • Screen Artefacts: Scan Lines
  • Battery: 3.6 V 1200 mAh, removable
  • First OS: 4.20

Go

PSP Go in Piano Black

  • CPU: 333 Mhz
  • Memory: 64 MB
  • Storage (inbuilt): 16 GB
  • External Storage: Memory Stick Micro (M2)
  • UMD Drive: No
  • Bluetooth: Yes (2.0)
  • Screen Artefacts: None
  • Battery: 3.6 V, inbuilt
  • First OS: 5.70

Positives are in bold. Information sourced from Wikipedia. Clarification is being collected on other aspects.

* Pro Duo to MicroSD converters can be used in place, with no detrimental effect. Custom firmware needed.

Recommendation

If you can grab a PSP 300X, you’ll be looking at the best base model you can obtain. This model received significant improvements to the screen so you should not have the common ghosting issue that plagues the older models. If you don’t mind sacrificing features, the original PSP 100X is incredibly easy to get hold of easily, and often does not cost too much.

The Go arguably has the most exciting features, bringing it quite closely to what the Switch of today can perform. You can connect a Dualshock 3 controller to it natively, and buy a dock that would give you a composite AV output. The trade-offs are obvious, but if you’re happy to explore custom firmware and use ROMs the problems are reduced. Keep in mind that most of the solutions to overcome the M2 storage medium involve getting handy with a screwdriver, so if you want more than 16 GB storage without tinkering, you’re better off sticking with the other models.

On a Budget? Go Vita

Since we began the website, the PS Vita homebrew stabilised immensely. This is great especially for PSP fans because the PS Vita comes with a PSP game emulator. Thanks to TheOfficialFloW, their handiwork has transformed it into a full blown PSP emulator! This means you’ll have a PSP-esque device with the Vita range of apps and games open to you too, for roughly the same price as a PSP Go.

We will cover the PS Vita in more detail soon on this website, but for now we fully recommend the Vita Hacks Guide for setting up your PS Vita for homebrew. This amazing guide goes from A to B clearly and caters for almost all variances in setup.

What to Buy – Vita Version

Storage

For those with a non-go model of PSP (1K/2K/3K/Street), you would be crazy to buy a Memory Stick Pro Duo. You can obtain a MicroSD adapter which will allow you to connect a MicroSD to the PSP. Not only does this avoid the premium cost of pro duo sticks, this dramatically increases the amount of storage you can have!

Most of these adapters will support anywhere between MicroSD to MicroSDXC, allowing you to store up to 128gb of data on the PSP, limited only by how far the technology has come. This is a great option for those who can fill up the regular storage easily, and especially useful for CFW users’ game library being on the PSP.

If the PSP go is what you own, you are unfortunately (somewhat) out of luck when it come to extending the on-board storage. Sony uses the Memory Stick Micro (M2) for the go, which is smaller than the PRO Duo to enable it to fit in the smaller form factor, however a converter for the M2 has not hit the market. Buying an official memory card for the Go is the way to go, with space sizes ranging from 64 MB all the way to 16 GB (giving the go a total of 32 GB storage). If you’re handy with electronics, there are solutions to provide a conversion from M2 to MicroSD.

You can also go the full mile and purchase a Photofast Cr-5400, which will convert two MicroSD cards into one Pro Duo. This has been known to be mostly hit and miss, and can cause a detrimental effect to the read/write speeds. However, this can double your storage capacity if speed is not an issue. Make sure you purchase a genuine Photofast adapter and two of the exact same MicroSD cards (brand and size). However a better approach would be to buy a MicroSD to the size appropriate for what you wish to achieve.

Battery

Unfortunately as with everything that is battery powered, the cells made by Sony are all passed their expected (or even hopeful) life. You can get lucky and find some PSP batteries that will still hold a charge, but they will be significantly reduced from their original lifespan. We cover the battery life issue of PSP here, but this is something that needs to be considered before purchasing.

There are community efforts to replace the internal battery with newer, inbuilt lithium cells to keep the life of the PSP up, normally sacrificing the UMD drive in the process. If you’re happy to modify your PSP, the replacement of batteries in all different forms is covered all over the PSP community. If you don’t want to hack apart your new piano black, then you can normally get buy with a USB cable and a 10,000 mAh phone power bank.