Comparing the new PSP with the old

by Andrew Yoon { Jul 12th 2007 at 9:45AM }

Is the new, slimmer PSP all that different from the original? It may be hard to see at first glance, but direct comparisons show that the system does, in fact, come with a number of significant changes. One can easily see that it has an even glossier look (fingerprints beware!). The system loses some girth all around, but there are a few other more interesting changes to note: the never-used IR port is removed, and the standard battery pack is smaller (how does that make battery life longer?).

[Thanks, Vahid!]

Tags: comparison, psp, psp slim, PspSlim, redesign

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

epobirs @ Jul 12th 2007 10:14AM

I'm curious as to whether there has been a die shrink and/or further integration of the chip set. This would allow for the size reduction and explain how a lower capacity battery offer greater longevity. A die shrink would also have made it cheap to add the caching for the UMD performance improvement.

Flash! @ Jul 12th 2007 10:21AM

We're around 2 years down the road. Surely they've been able to shrink components and design a much more power efficient device. It's possible that they use newer LCD designs too, keeping the same big, bright display but with a lower power draw. From the sounds of it, they might need to spin the UMD less as well what with the temporary ability to cache UMD data. That solves your two biggest power eaters right there.

Randy @ Jul 12th 2007 10:40AM

i see that they moved the two speakers from the bottom and put them in front

zoen151 @ Jul 12th 2007 10:52AM

I say no thank you to the slim PSP. I like my PSP like I like my women: Meaty.

runemaster @ Jul 12th 2007 11:14AM

You have to be REALLY paying attention to notice the difference.

Nah, I think I'll pass...
Its not that different.. If it looks different, like PS2 to slimPS2, then I'll buy it for sure. This one.. eh... no, I don't think so.

I'll stick to my old PSP :)

demasque @ Jul 12th 2007 11:38AM

Laffin' and agreeing with zoen151.

Although I do like that ceramic white slim with the Darth Vader image on the back. Very cool but I don't feel the need to get rid of my PSPmeaty!

dantad @ Jul 12th 2007 11:43AM

Threespeech has some spec sheets up for the new PSP and it looks like it has had an upgrade to the system memory as well. 64mb in the slim psp it was 32mb in the fat psp.

http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=473#more-473

http://www.threespeech.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/PSP%20SPEC.jpg

jonnyt @ Jul 12th 2007 11:57AM

looks like the ir thingy on top is gone too, and I need this for my remote control app :(

kwisatz_haderach @ Jul 12th 2007 12:28PM

I think Sony made a big improvement with the new video output.
But did they solve the REAL problem ? The directions keys is so poor it is impossible to play games like Street Fighter or Tekken...
If they did sovle this problem, i will surely consider buying a new PSP.

pixelator @ Jul 12th 2007 12:49PM

I'm surprised nobody has noticed that the analog nub is larger. The d-pad is a little different - when you superimpose the two PSP models and align the screen you can see the diffences.

As for those saying this isn't worth buying - wait until you see it for yourself. These are prototypes mostly and there's already variations in the slims I've seen, namely clear buttons vs. solid color (look at the various pics) and the location of the card slot.

Hey, a flip-out keyboard would've been nice, but I'll take video out and faster load times, no problem.

Saigon @ Jul 12th 2007 12:50PM

If the video output works well, and creates a good quality video, then I think I'll get one.

PSP-Retro @ Jul 12th 2007 12:56PM

I can't wait to get some hard stats on the new battery life.
- The Video Out is a really smart move, might keep UMD alive with this feature alone, but it will also be kewl to play games on the big screen!
- I would imagine that after the game loads it will really cut load times when part of the game is cached.

I am going to get one as soon as I can.

Dane @ Jul 12th 2007 1:16PM

I hope DarkAlex comes out of retirement to help us with this one when it's released!

h0mi @ Jul 12th 2007 2:05PM

I've been thinking of buying a 2nd psp and this would fit the bill very nicely.

Southgate92 @ Jul 12th 2007 2:29PM

Video out is pretty neat but it's not going to make me buy the new model, niether is 33% weight loss.

importuner93 @ Jul 12th 2007 2:39PM

just so everyone nos the video out will work with the games and video content. this was stated at sony's press confrence.

importuner93 @ Jul 12th 2007 2:52PM

just so everyone knows the video out will work with the
games and video
content. this was stated at sony's press confrence

gullum @ Jul 12th 2007 2:56PM

I think this is not meant for us PSP owners but for people who have yet to take the plunge. Citing long load times and bad battery life as the biggest reasons NOT to get a PSP, naysayers really don't have a reason to bash the system anymore.

And us existing PSP owners don't feel alienated because we already know the device is great and the few "new" features and that big.

gullum @ Jul 12th 2007 2:58PM

Sorry I meant the new features aren't that big.

Aaron @ Jul 12th 2007 3:40PM

I think the newer feature of Video Out insures I'll be getting one.

PSP games on a big screen TV!?! A good way to share content on your PSP with others!?! Actually watching a UMD movie!?!

I think that whole feature is being overlooked and/or underated by current PSP owners.

Plus, it will bring new people to the PSP fold and that's always a good thing (unless of course they start crying about wanting a touch screen or some such nonsense).

Warner Young @ Jul 12th 2007 3:48PM

Has anyone actually quantified how much better the battery life is? Or does Sony really mean that it's "better" because it's smaller but provides the same amount of play time?

goemon74 @ Jul 12th 2007 4:13PM

I like the redesign of the PSP, but one thing makes me a little angry: the screen itself seems to be not improved at all. The reaction time of an average old PSP is about 100 ms, good LCD screens have less the 10 ms. I know that better screens cost more, but especially on PSP there are some game genres that are functioning very bad on PSP (for example Metal Gear Ops is having such a strong blur that I feel tears coming during gameplay)... Sony should have done it like Nintendo. The DS Lite has a much brighter clearer and obviously better screen than the old DS. With a better screen the redesign of PSP would be much more attractive to me, at the moment I am not thinking about buying a new PSP...

PSP-Retro @ Jul 12th 2007 5:17PM

Hm yeah ok th PSP has a substandard screen???? YAH RRIIIGGHTTTT! That's about the silliest post I have readin a long long time. The PSP has bar none the best looking portable screen out there, you might want to check your prescription or better yet get one...

goemon74 @ Jul 15th 2007 1:13PM

@PSP-Retro: The PSP display has a very long response time (as you can read here: http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/handheld/headtohead.htm, you can clearly see that in games like Rally-X at the beginning of Ridge Racers or Ridge Racers itself and many other games with fast scrolling, you can always see a double shadow on the screen. The first DS had the same problem, but Nintendo fixed it with the DS Lite. I never said that the overall picture quality of PSP is bad, I think it is crystal clear and sharp - as long as nothing is moving too much... I wonder if you ever tried to play Ultimate Ghost´n Goblins - without the "response time blur", the game would be a little bit easier to play...