Thursday, July 22, 2010

Memory for PSP - how much, where to buy, what type?

PSP without doubt the greatest gadget all time. Super sexy, great games and lots of potential. Ok so you've spent your 150 and your thinking the 32mb card supplied is a tad weak - it is! and there is good reason Sony packed such a lightwieght card with the machine, which i will delve into in a bit


Memory stick pro duo

Thats the card you will need - it must be PRO DUO the normal memory stick is large and will not fit. Do not dispair if you already have memory stick compatible sony products though as you can buy a memory stick pro duo adaptor that will increase the length of the pro duo to fit in your older products


Sony or Sandisk?

It does not matter! i have heard various rumours that the sandisk version is faster but now with the high speed sony version that is no longer the case. Sony cards are generally a bit cheaper and there are plenty available on ebay. Personally i have 3 x 2gb sonys and have never had any issues with quality - any feedback on the Sandisk card will be added to the guide later


512mb, 1gb 2gb or higher?

ok the bare minimum you want is the 512mb, 256 is soooo last year. With ebay prices around 15 this is your starting point.


Music


512mb -125 songs


1gb - 250 songs


2gb - 500 songs


Movies


depends on compression - i believe you can get a movie down to 400mb or lower


Games

lets not beat about around the bush. The reason 2gb cards sold in their millions last year is due to the fact that anybody lucky enough to own an early PSP (v1.0, v1.5) and were clever enough to not install firmware updates can play games directly from the memory cards. GULP!! Yep sony scored a massive own goal when fiendish gamers across the globe cottoned onto this and realised that a 2gb card can hold up to 5 psp games (depending on size of course). Because you are all law abiding citizens, gamers be aware that (by law) you can only have copies of games you already own and copying your mates or downloading iso filesis not only illegal but very very naughty!! ANYWAY this caused a huge demand for high capacity cards and, suprise suprise Sony announce that their not selling that many umd games - wonder why???



UK / Hong Kong

If you are thinking of buying from ebay - and why on earth wouldn't you? - then you are probably wondering about all these suppliers from Hong kong and whether you should buy overseas or from Blighty.


Essentially all the memory sticks do come from Hong Kong / China so quality IS NOT AN ISSUE. Sorry about the caps but a lot of UK listers do give our Chinese brothers stick about this.


The main points to consider is:



Import tax and VAT, if you do get caught on this you are likely to be paying more in total than if you bought from aUK supplier.
Long postage delays - cards from abroad can take up to 2 weeks and thats if it does not get caught up in customs : ( Items purchased from the UK will usually be sent first class straight away.
Returns / faulty goods - Memory sticks are wonderous creatures yet they are delicate and can damage in the post. This can happen if you buy from Hong kong ot the UK. If you have to send a faulty card to hong kong to get a replacement the chances are you will be paying more in postage than what the card is worth. Buying from a reputable UK supplier -such as youwantone ; ) - you can send the item back with a first class recorded envelope (1) that will usually be refunded by the supplier
Customer service - At the end of the day it is nice to be able to pick up the phone and speak with the seller.
Accessories

the main extras you will probably need are the memory stick pro duo adaptor and a card reader. Various 24 in 1 card readers are available quite cheap and conect via a usb 2.0 point, one of the coolest extras we have see are the single card readers that attach to your keyring, again plug this directly into your usb and you have your very own portably hard drive for files, college work, movies, photos, etc These are available on ebay from around a fiver - Essential



..................apparatly there is an 8gb card in the pipeline, will keep you updated!!

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