Just got a PSP and DS, tech specs comparison

This weekend was very eventful...

I bought a white PSP and the girlfriend bought a Pink DS Lite.

Comparison time:

PSP pros:
Nice large bright screen, very clear and no motion blur
Good speakers, also takes standard headphones
Very good internet using Wi-fi, easy to configure and you can download demo's directly to the console
Take Sony memory sticks, so I can view my Cybershot photos directly off the card.
Possibility to change firmware in the future to run homebrew and emulators.
Connects to PC using standard USB connector and needs no drivers to show up as a new drive.
Plays MP3's, you just drag and drop them onto it.
Widescreen excellent for fast action games such as wipeout and also for video files.
System goes into standby when you turn it off, so the game starts where you left it when you turn it back on, no waiting for reload.

PSP Cons:
Can only play MP4 video out the box, so sony's native video format on their cybershot won't play (not impressed).
Poor battery life (roughly 2 - 3 hours), so I'll be buying some spare batteries.
Fidly buttons, especially the analogue stick, almost need double jointed thumbs.
UMD drive seems very flimsy and looks like it would break easily.



DS Pros:
Very neat little unit, looks great
Folds in half, which protects screens when not in use
Built in microphone, which is being used in mainstream games (such as voice commands in nintendogs)
Accepts GBA games
Very good battery life.
Easy to get flash ROM to play homebrew and emulators.

DS Cons:
Poor internet support
No built in storage, so you can't store system settings and demo's on the system.
Need special headset so you can't use your normal headphones.
Speakers are much more tinny and not as loud as the PSP's.
Games more expensive than the PSP.
(It's pink)



Both consoles have good multiplayer support but we've not tested this yet.

Current games we have:

PSP
GTA Vice city stories
Wipeout Pure
Lumines 2
Heroes of Eternia

DS
Harvest Moon
Nintendogs

I agree with most of your Pros and Cons, but I have to say that DS games are not generally more expensive than PSP games in my experience and most DS games are infinately more playable than PSP games.

Having said that the Internet although slow is ok for browsing these forums (which I do in often), and playing a movie on the way home from anywhere (on the train etc) is a great way to spend a journey.

I also use my PSP for showing potential clients my work, it is very useful for that as it pops into your bag or a large pocket.

The DS Lite microphone is now being utilised to speak to people you are playing against, which is a neat feature.

IPete2.

DS Pros:
Instant loading

PSP Cons:
Really slow loading

Nope, you can use any headphones you want, you don't need anything special.

Hadn't realised about the DS headphones thing, as the headset she got had a mic on it, I thought it was a custom connector, I stand corrected.

Yes, completely agree with the slow loading times on the PSP, shame it doesn't use the memory cards to cache game data, although this is changing alot as sony are using the memory cards for psn downloads (playstation downloads over the PS3, which I won't be buying)

Yeah and it will actually change the game requirements on the PSP in 2 interesting ways:

1. New games can use the unlocked PSP speed of 333mhz instead of 222mhz -> Battery even faster empty

2. Caching is a great feature, how we have waited for console games having "requirement lists" on their back. thats as crap as PS1 / PS2 games targeted only for a specific controller which is NOT the default controller

we've had that for years with light gun games.

even the N64 had "expansion pack only" games.

The key to it is to bundle the add on with some killer game that every one buys, or make the add-on very cheap. Luckily the PSP uses memory sticks which you can pick up very cheaply online and even pretty cheap in stores, so no one can complain about needing one.
I'd just like to see a better online service without the need for a PS3.

I flashed my PSP with custiom firmware. i now play all my old fave Nintendo games and have copies of my UMDs on a 4gb memstick, so i dont have to carry no case around.

Also, a rare instance (many people use this excuse but as you can imagine most of the time its a lie) my UMD drive is a little borked. I've jammed paper behind the metal chasis so the disks will load, and that makes the drive hard to close.

I prefer having everything on my memstick. my GBA carts, Snes games and Nes games, pretty much everything I own is sitting on my PSP. Much easier than pulling out one of many different systems to play the games....

I'd love to do the custom firmware thing. But my unit has official 3.52 firmware right now, which can't be changed until someone releases a downgrader for it.

Heroes of Eternia? What's that? A sequel to Legend of Eternia or something? I loved LOE!

Actually, Platypus was a good game written for the PSP, who was behind that game again? I know that it got its start here with Blitz, that was awesome, just need to wait for a price drop before grabbing that one for the PSP, tho.

Sorry, it's not Heroes of Eternia, it's "Tales of Eternia", it's a SNES looking Final Fantasy style game, but with real time combat. I don't normally like that sort of game, but I'm hooked ont shi one, the voice acting's actually pretty good in it too. I don't know if it's a sequel to anything, only cost me a tenner at my loca choices video though, so I'm happy.

Platypus, hmmm, if I could get it at a good price then I'd go for it, the PSP port wasn't done by the orignal developer though, a bit of a sore subject I think. if you go to www.squashysoftware.com the whole stories there.

Just bought Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins for the PSP because I've always thought it to be a great game - stunning, but very hard.

The PSP screen is stunning, without a trace of blur and one of it's best features. I'll not comment on any comparisons though.

Yes, I'm very very impressed with the screen. Still not interested in buying UMD movies though. Playing wipeout and ridge racer on it is great and using headphones for the sound is awesome, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the PS2 version and the PSP one.

True, same was true with Vice City Stories. I own both the PSP AND PS2 versions of that, and I most likely am playing the PSP version far more, due to the fact since you would hardly find a GTA game with all those bells and whistles in a handheld. Far better than Liberty City Stories, as far as interactivity, size, and gameplay are concerned. I know that VCS was $10 more than LCS, but it was worth it... I'd almost think that VCS has about the same level of interactivity as San Andreas, maybe not quite as much, but more interactivity than I expected. Makes me kinda wish that the PSP would have seen a San Andreas port, but I guess that didn't happen. Oh well...

I think it will do soon, it's bound too. Especially as they can ramp up the graphics engine now sony have unlock another 111mhz on the system.

Am I the only one that has a PSP with very noticable motion-blurring? Maybe it's the general temperature of where I live (Canada), since the screen blurs less on the warmer days.....it's extremely noticable in darker games.

Anyways, liking that Sony is continuing the Greatest Hits thing with the PSP, stopped paying for games full-price as the ones I did want are guaranteed to hit that status, saving me cash in the long-run, as I really don't like paying near-console prices for a handheld game, just out of principle, no matter how great the title may be.


Which games are you looking at? From what I've seen, *all* new PSP titles are more expensive than DS ones, you sure you weren't looking at ones the retailer may have marked down just to get rid of them or something?


Sleep mode, if you hold the power-button up for three seconds it shuts off the system completely instead, conserving battery life when you don't need to continue your last progress. DS on the other hand nailed the sleep-mode thing, just close the clam-shell without turning the DS off, and that's it.

I also find my PSP speakers are more tinny and lacking base than my DS Phat/Lite, albeit it doesn't really bother me since I have proper headphones for both systems.

Just really wishing DS's online system wasn't such pants, I mean, it's good for a quick play against a stranger, but if you want to do anything else, you have to bother with the friend-code system and coordinate a gather time to make full use of some games (Metroid Prime Hunters being a prime example, one gameplay mode against strangers, 6 with friends), and I wasn't pleased when I learned this same system was employed on the Wii a few months back.

Loving the latest WiFi games on the PSP, especially the ones with voice-chat, Syphon Filter is a blast to play, even with the general PSP controls making it clumsy to properly aim and shoot at your opponents.
(a problem with many online PSP titles anyhow, I had a freaking strafe contest against some random opponent in MGS:PortableOps just trying to kill each other with our guns)

Comparing a PSP to a DS would be OK, or a PSP Lite to a DS Lite would be OK, but to compare a PSP to a DS Lite is a bit unfair.

Three of your cons for the PSP have been tweaked in the Lite version released next month... of course, whether they've been tweaked good or tweaked bad is a another matter. Battery life is greatly improved however and I believe the UMD drive is looking much better. I know the buttons have been tweaked with, but not sure how much of a difference it really makes.


Actually PSP has it's own version of PSN, for the moment you need a PS3 to download and copy PS1 games from PSN to your PSP, but everything else is fine. psp-vault.com is a great 1 stop shop for almost every psp psn content released.


My PSP has a very noticeable red blur, but it's kind of cool. Makes the GTA games look like their PS2 counterparts.

psp vaults okay, I like that you can download the demos, but sony and the other PSP publishers do seem to be ignoring demos a lot. Why aren't there demo's of all PSP games as there are for PC games? It's so easy to install the demo to the PSP, so why not?
I'm going to be getting some spare PSP batteries and waiting for the firmware downgrader to come out, so I can start playing with homebrew stuff. Already got the DS flash cart on order, looks like there's loads of homebrew DS tools available.

Hhhmm I get a good 6 / 7 hours out of my PSP with the screen on 3 third brightness and WiFi off.

guess that's me having the wi-fi now, brightness up and volume up, I'm also playing umd games so that's draining it, I@m pretty sure playing emulated games off the memory stick would be better too.

The only complaint I have the PSP is its not loud enough with the standard headphones they supply. But after changing them its perfect. I use mine a lot when traveling and waiting in airports. I mostly use it for watching movies and playing games (UMD, and some homebrew emulators). Usually a mixture of both in one sitting. With a nice 4GB memory stick you can put a whole season of Lost on it.