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Hands-on with the PSP Slim

Posted on Aug 14, 07 11:59 PM PDT


Hands-on With The PSP Slim - The best video clips are here

Sony's John Koller describing the new features


After Sony announced its PSP Slim in Tokyo, we were anxious to get our hands on a real one, since “on paper”, the changes were somewhat subtle.

This afternoon, we met with John Koller (a senior product manager at Sony PlayStation) for a hands-on in San Francisco. After holding the PSP Slim in our hands, it is obvious that the PSP has lost weight (33% lighter) and size (20% slimmer). That’s a very appreciable improvement, although not a life-changing one: I won’t start to put it in my pants pocket. Thankfully, Sony listened to its customers and has added many other changes that have a significant impact:

1/ TV-Out: begin able to play on a large screen is really cool. The movie quality is not as good as a decent DVD player, but it's close and it certainly beats the **** out of my iPod video. Thinking about it, it must be "DVD-quality" on the crappy CRT TVs found in most hotels.

Hands-on with the PSP Slim

2/ USB Rechargeable: I’ve been asking for all devices to be USB rechargeable for years. Users can now plug the USB cable in their laptop and not worry about pluging to a wall. thanks Sony!

3/ More improvements: Doubling the memory means faster load times (speed varies depending on the titles). Better battery. The speakers and the WiFi switch have been moved away from the user fingers to avoid an accidental switch during a game.

This is a direct effect of how electronic devices are made: as time goes by, Sony continues to reduce the manufacturing costs by designing a smaller and cheaper PSP. Consumer get a cheaper and sexier console. I particularly like how simple the new UMD slot is. It is not only easier and cheaper to make, but it is also harder to break (no springs…). In the end, everybody wins.

I’m not sure how much slimmer it can get, but I don’t think that it will ever accommodate the sliding keyboard that I always wanted (hint, hint). Oh and could they cram a phone in there too? :)

Price: $199

Release Dates:
Silver: Sept 10th
Black: End of September
White: Oct 9th (Darth Vader Limited Edition - Will be on sale only a few months)

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Legacy Comments

By gregory smith , 27/06/08 7:50 PM (CommentID #750245)


what u need is a better connection.. look at your linksys... maybe you need to buy another one.. you can get a linksys at office depot i think... then just set it up

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By Rex , 24/03/08 7:22 AM (CommentID #583044)


It's the best portable player in the market,it plays music and video!!

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By jezerg , 14/03/08 12:56 AM (CommentID #555963)


cool console.. im getting one next week...

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By W.J. , 23/02/08 11:34 AM (CommentID #505633)


if yo think that sony is good then you are a complete idiot... if you hack th PSP its 10 million times better... remember that.. it`s true

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By rayr , 19/01/08 6:51 PM (CommentID #437827)


Can you watch and play with the PSP on your computer?

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By unknown , 09/01/08 7:44 AM (CommentID #423208)


I think that you complain to much and that you should give sony a chance because you clearly do not think straght because if you did have a sony product then you would not be saying that because alot of their products have a very good quility to them and they don't suck you do

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By Anonymous , 26/12/07 10:41 PM (CommentID #407117)


nothing

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By ramus of people , 26/11/07 10:04 AM (CommentID #376515)


My internet is not working for my psp wht can do to fix this problem?

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By jew , 21/11/07 2:31 PM (CommentID #372287)


should i get one or wait and get one after mor things might come out

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By jew , 21/11/07 2:31 PM (CommentID #372285)


should i get one or wait and get one after mor things might come out

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By Brryyyyyyyyyaaaaannnnnn , 17/11/07 11:17 AM (CommentID #367075)


yo yo yo

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By x , 12/11/07 1:01 PM (CommentID #360406)


Ds owner the ds is just a pathetic attempt by nintendo to make a comeback at the psp. Secondly to the guy who said psps suck, do you even own one, if not buy one and play it before you go talking crap about psps. And why are you on this forum if you think psps suck??

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By a G , 03/11/07 9:42 AM (CommentID #351928)


Your all idiots.The new PSP is hot and Sony's doing a great job.It doesn't need a phone or more flash.You people are just impacient and to damn broke to buy a cellphone.That's not Sony's fault!

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By d , 02/11/07 7:27 PM (CommentID #351473)


how many movies can u put on it ans some dood said that the black slim has better graphics thatn the rest of the colors is that true ?

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By spudboy14 , 22/10/07 5:18 AM (CommentID #342738)


is there gunna be a built in webcam. and a sliding keybord and a phone. somone plz reply quick my class ends in 25 mins.

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By spudboy14 , 22/10/07 5:14 AM (CommentID #342733)


the psp had better kick ass. and i know it will.

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By That KID , 15/10/07 5:31 AM (CommentID #335241)


how can you tell if its a psp series 2000, i got mine around last christmas and how do you tell?

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By sony rocks everyone else sucks ass , 14/10/07 8:38 AM (CommentID #334571)


yssup

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By mike , 14/10/07 8:32 AM (CommentID #334566)


# 14 Are you seriously that stupid? Yes it is possible to check e-mails on the psp.

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By Steeeev , 13/10/07 9:26 AM (CommentID #333700)


You can check your G-Mail on a psp

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By dark_aleX , 05/10/07 10:55 AM (CommentID #323952)


Get a DS,play MarioKart,then get owned by me!WHA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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By Jeff Hoye , 03/10/07 7:52 AM (CommentID #321179)


Are there really extended batteries available for the PSP-2000? Can someone verify that the PSP98541 is compatible with the slim? On Sony Style it appears to only be compatible with the PSP-1000. I've also seen something about a battery called the PSP-S110. I have two old PSP-280 (2200 mAh) batteries that are apparently useless to me, as my original PSP was stolen and now I have the slim which will charge these old batteries, but won't run on them. Thanks!

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By JM , 23/09/07 7:46 AM (CommentID #310077)


According to SonyStyle, there is an extended 2200 mAh battery for the PSP-2000 series named the PSP98541. The extended battery for the PSP-1000 series is the PSP-280, which an insert in the slim version packaging says is not compatible with the PSP-2000 series.

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By Megareefer , 12/09/07 12:45 PM (CommentID #299074)


A correction: the battery of the old PSP IS compatible with the PSP Slim, but one won't able to close the cap as the new battery is thinner. PSP is awesome and the Slim really kicks *ss

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By moureti , 12/09/07 5:17 AM (CommentID #298764)


buenos dias, yo pienso que la psp ete une moubiene ide que le contcepte de condsa ma qué ece ouna quatress bonito .

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By EichNiSempai , 11/09/07 7:00 PM (CommentID #298356)


not all products of Sony are bad, and some are. E.X. their earphones are a NOT BUY. Their TV's are great. I still have one, and its been about 7 years, and no problems...AT ALL. Sony PSP, great product, but not enough battery life. Though, its can play games, music, videos, etc. But, A Nintendo DS Lite can also do all the above. Using supercards can provide all you need, and the battery lasts longer.

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By JM , 10/09/07 10:07 PM (CommentID #297411)


Koller did not speak the truth. The PSP slim is not compatible with the 1800 and 2200 mAh batteries of the full size PSP. Nor is it compatible with the PSP-191 battery charger. You don't find this out until you purchase one and read the statement included inside the box. Sony continues to give itself a bad name. I miss the leadership of Akio Morita.

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By Jim , 10/09/07 5:09 PM (CommentID #297197)


A phone?? No thank you!! Don't we have enough phones already? Your world won't come to an end if every electronic item you buy doesn't have a cell phone built in.

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By Overrated , 10/09/07 1:03 AM (CommentID #296507)


Sony products are so bloated. Reviewers get kickbacks for saying nice things about the PSP! People, the PSP sucks! Everything Sony makes SUCK!

You suck!

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By patrik , 30/08/07 1:25 PM (CommentID #285627)


there is no comment on the response time of the screen. i'm not happy with screen of the old psp cause i think it's a to blurry when there is side to side motion in the picture.

anyone know if the new one has the same problem?

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By shelvine erasmus , 30/08/07 1:37 AM (CommentID #285075)


i am glad that sony is bringing out a slim psp. i would have liked a build in web cam and hdd.the t.v. out is cool but what about t.v.in to record dirctly from a source onto your m.s.

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By James , 28/08/07 12:19 AM (CommentID #282930)


You can have a phone from January 08 since the new Go!Messenger with video chat is comming out! Cant Wait!

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By Conor , 27/08/07 12:02 PM (CommentID #282409)


Just buy a damb 4gb memory stick pro duo for $30-40 online...

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By hannah , 24/08/07 10:25 AM (CommentID #280210)


i think the psp is great and its good how you can take it anywhere with you. i also have the internet on it now and i was wondering if it is possible to check emails?

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By Dyl Gio , 24/08/07 9:28 AM (CommentID #280175)


Look at the iphone 4-8 gig with no HDD. how hard would it be to do a psp with 8 gig of flash. not very hard at all. and it would still be thin and flash is super cheap

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By Hubert , 17/08/07 8:41 AM (CommentID #274029)


At this point, adding a hard drive would be nice, but developers can't reply on it when creating their applications, so I suspect that it would not change much. It would be cool if one could "cache" their games on the HDD to further boost load time. Obviously, it would also be very nice if Sony had something that syncs Tivo and Media Center movies. There are 3rd party apps out there, but it is usually a bit clumsy.

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By Waqas , 16/08/07 3:59 PM (CommentID #273407)


i saw on youtube a video from t3 tv and they showed the psp slim and they showed the system firmware and it was 3.50

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By josh , 16/08/07 1:03 PM (CommentID #273294)


i think that i like it more then the psp now but it would be a good idea for sony put in a silding keyboard and phone. Oh and is sony going to put the hacker safe mod chip so... there won't be any more hackers or homebrew. If i was sony i would make a office frimware that won't brick your psp but you can hack that way they would sale more psps.

if you have any answer to any of my question plz email me at insideout6996@hotmail.com

thanks

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By Rob Grant , 15/08/07 8:29 AM (CommentID #272207)


Still no HDD - bummer. How hard would it be to stick 4 or 8 Gb microdrive into the damned thing? Honestly, for me that has always been the only major gripe.

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