Tenoroon's Playstation Portable Thread

[Tenoroon]

Good Evening everyone!

A few days ago, I decided to purchase a used PSP 1000 to tinker around with and to use for some retro emulation on the go. I've been reading quite a bit into all of the homebrew and hardware mods available to these wonderful devices, and my god is there a lot of potential with these things.

I plan on using this thread to round up all of the mods I'd like to do in addition to also including step by step "mini-guides" for each mod I do. I've noticed while there is quite a bit of information floating around out there for mods regarding the PSP, they seem to be scattered across the internet. So, my goal is to use this thread as a "hub" of sorts for all of that information, making it easier for myself, and others who may want to reinvigorate this nearly 20 year old beast.

My PSP:

A few days ago, I pulled the trigger on a Japanese PSP 1000. It came with the console itself and the charger. I chose the PSP 1000 model because it was a bit cheaper than the other revisions and I prefer it over the others.

 

Here's a picture of it, it's in pretty good condition with a few small scratches on the backside. It also has an original battery which will be nice down the road. The only downside is that it's on version 3.80, and I need to find a way to get it connected to the internet in order to update to version 6.61 so I can homebrew it.
 

Spoiler

 

Which PSP Should I Get:

There's 5 versions of the PSP that have been released. The PSP 1000, 2000, 3000, PSP Go, and the PSP Street.

A TL;DR version of the differences is that the PSP 1000 or 3000 are the two that are worth looking into. The PSP 1000 has a bit less RAM and a "bad" screen in comparison to the newer revisions but has the biggest battery and best build quality of them all. The PSP 3000 has more RAM than the 1000, a better screen, and is lighter than the 1000 but is known for it's worse build quality and smaller battery when compared the 1000.

 

The Go is harder to find and more expensive, but can fit in your pocket, and doesn't have a UMD drive slot.

The 2000 is a stop gap between the 1000 and 3000 and only really makes sense to get if it is cheaper than the 1000 or 3000

The PSP Street was only sold in Europe and is mostly a collectors item, but it was build poorly and paper light.

 

Note: Most of the PSP's found on Ebay are from Japan. In Japan, they have the O and X button swapped. If this is a big deal, you can either look for a non-Japanese one or I believe it's possible to swap them back via Homebrew.

 

More in-depth information can be found from this useful guide.

 

Why I went with the 1000:

The 1000 was a bit cheaper than the 3000 models at the time and makes more sense in my opinion. I plan on replacing the screen and the bigger battery is nice. I also appreciate the better build quality. To me, the 1000 makes the most sense if you're willing to modify it and replace the screen but if you want a PSP just to use for playing UMD games and potentially Homebrew, then I think the 3000 is the better option.

 

Why didn't you get a Vita?

The Vita is objectively a better console. It has newer games, more emulation support, and is not as old as the PSP. However, they tend to be a bit more pricey and don't really have many hardware mods. If you are considering purchasing one of these portables solely for emulation and playing games, then the Vita is the better device, but if you want a cheaper more hands-on portable, then I think the PSP is the way to go.

 

Tenoroon's Mod List:

Here's a list of all of the modifications, tweaks, and general maintenance I plan on doing to this device:

 

• Connecting the PSP to the internet via a hotspot that supports the WEP protocol.
• Updating the device to firmware version 6.61 
• Purchasing a Memory Stick Pro Duo with a 64gb MicroSD card to store games and other programs.
• Install the Custom Infinity 2.0 Firmware for Homebrew and other tweaks.
• Upgrade the screen to a better IPS screen with less ghosting.
• Replace the battery in the pack with a bigger one.
• Tear down the device to clean it out.

 

I am also interested in potentially shell-swapping this thing later down the road and potentially replacing the UMD drive slot with another bigger battery.

 

 

This thread might act like a giant guide, which I'm fine with, but I encourage discussion about this device as I think it's really interesting and can be a great entry point into hardware modding. 

 

Anyways, Thanks for reading!

 

[ssj92]

Personally I went with a Vita. The OLED display is very nice. Not to mention I can now play any PSP game as well. 

 

It's more expensive yes but it has a lot of software support. I can play my PC games remotely using moonlight app. 

 

PSP was a really good portable back in the day. I used to have so many mods/homebrew for it. I still have one somewhere but it doesn't turn on. 

[Reciever]

I installed the 4000mah battery into mine, gets around 16 hours of max screen brightness and "OC". I also replaced the shell with an aftermarket one off of Amazon 

 

Lent it to my coworker so he would have something to do on the plane while flying to Vietnam. 

 

When ever I'm killing time I would often play metal slug anthology :) 

 

Interested in the oled panel but not really needed until my panel fails