Melancholy's Huge PSP Review

Post by **melancholy** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:40 am

An update:

I let a fellow coworker play with my PSP today. After playing for about 5 minutes, he asked what I was going to do about the dead pixels. Confused, I asked what he was talking about, so he put Ape Escape into the loading screen and showed me. Sure enough, up in the corner there were about five pixels lit up that I never even noticed. After studying the screen more, I seen two more at the bottom. They are all little spots that are constantly lit, so I never even noticed them when playing since the screen always has some color displayed to mask them. And since they are in the corners, they are not interfereing with anything, which makes me weary of returning the whole unit.

Anyway, do dead pixels ever get worse over time? Do they harm the system having them? Because I barely notice them and they really do not bother me since they are so small and out of the way. If I returned it, it could be weeks until I get a replacement from Sony, and I am unsure of Blockbuster's stand on exchanges. I just am curious if it's going to be a growing problem, because if I'm sure not to develop more dead spots over time, I won't even bother returning it.

Disheveled DrFreeze · Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:50 am

no, dead pixels dont get worse over time, if they do then your screen is seriously fucked up

i have one or two dead pixels on my laptop, and it doesnt reall bother me, hell right now i cant even find em (its one alwats blue and one always yellow pixel iirc)

but seven faulty pixels is a lot, most tft screens for computers have a 1 or 2 dead pixels = new screen waranty, and those screens are 1024*768 and upwards in reso, the psp isnt even half that reso, with total pixel count less then a fourth

also, i heard some rumors that sony wont replace psps with dead pixels, in the official story from sony i read you can send your psp to sony, and they will repair any defects for free, but since they even state in the manual that dead pixels arent a defect, im afraid youll get your own psp back unchanged and with a hefty shipping bill

your best bet would be to take it up with the store you bought it at

Joestar · Post by **Joestar** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:52 am

melancholy wrote:
Jigoku wrote:dunno if you noticed or not but there are also another pair of speakers at the very bottom side of the psp.
I just checked, and your right, there are speakers at the bottom. However, this doesn't really change my review much, since the ones on the bottom are the same size as the ones on the top (in other words, so tiny that I didn't even see them).

forgot to mention, see those two holes on the top of the psp (next to the usb)? yup, they're 'speakers' too lol

Sony really did a pathetic job on the sound department, good job i got my headphones.

Anyway, do dead pixels ever get worse over time?

the shop keeper told me that there's more chance of getting them if you put it into sleep mode, and so far i haven't had any yet (i've played it for some weeks now). still not sure if it is true tho.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:38 pm

I'd return it to Blockbuster. 7 dead pixels is ridiculous for a handheld. Be warned, that someone on another message board opened 13 PSPs at Best Buy, and they ALL had dead pixels. Sad.

law56ker · Post by **law56ker** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:41 pm

I highly doubt that.
Hundreds have no problem at all, stop whining, you can exchange the psp for a new one with no cost at all.

arrowhead · Post by **arrowhead** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:12 pm

dont be a fanboy, a lot of people are coming in to gamestop "whining" about the dead pixels. When it is happening to a lot of people its not whining, its a fact.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:28 pm

law56ker wrote:I highly doubt that.
Hundreds have no problem at all, stop whining, you can exchange the psp for a new one with no cost at all.

Highly doubt all you want, facts are facts. And, it should be noted, that not all stores will let you continually return PSPs until you receive a defect free one.

Gmc · Post by **Gmc** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:24 pm

Nice review. I'm not getting a PSP til its out here in the UK, dunno when thats going to be though

The dead pixel thing seems pretty annoying, stupid sony manufacturing everything on the cheap

Nyarlathotep · Post by **Nyarlathotep** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:44 pm

apparently SOA don't consider bad pixels a defect so won't be allowing returns of them, so you'd better just suck it up.

I shouldn't think its that big of a deal if you didn't even notice yourself - dead pixels on tfts is fairly common.

gamedudex2 · Post by **gamedudex2** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:50 pm

right now not interested in psp. i'm going to hold out a year and a half to 2 years. i'll wait til the new gameboy comes out before i even make my mind to purchase, anyways by then the psp should be cheaper, and maybe have better battery life . i hope nintendo if they do a cd media dont do expensive in game prices like this for handheld games

right now i could get a new ps2 or used one with games and a ds with games on ebay for not much more thna a psp, maybe even slightly less

but i havent said no to psp, i'm just going to wait it out. i'm mostly waiting for next gen home conoles anyways. i will get all 3, but sony wil wait out the first eyear just to see what issues i t has. but will gt for blu ray player

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:08 pm

i think ill wait till E3 before making up my mind finally, DS looks ok and has some cool stuff, PSP has killer graphics and just looks sweet

then there is the new gameboy which is rumored to be shown at E3, ive read that at some point ninty was even experimenting with GC technology in a handheld

antidot · Post by **antidot** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:12 pm

[quote="Dr Wily"]apparently SOA don't consider bad pixels a defect so won't be allowing returns of them, so you'd better just suck it up.

I shouldn't think its that big of a deal if you didn't even notice yourself - dead pixels on tfts is fairly common.[/quote]

1 or 2 is fairly common. I havn't actually used a PSP, so I won't comment on that. However, through my own equipment, and university equipment, I have had to use a large amount of TFT displays. 1 or 2 dead pixles isn't that uncommon, but it has probably been 1 in 4 or so with 1 or 2. Never 7 or more. These displays are also much larger than the PSP's display. Also, you can return a computer display because of dead pixles.

Sir Savant · Post by **Sir Savant** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:13 pm

I guess I will just MAKE a psp, and a ps2p. Might be a little cheaper if I can make a cheap case. And a bigger game library.

Good luck with those dead pixels. My laptop is a dead pixel. I leaned on it and the screen cracked, and it cost 200 bucks for a USED one. Lol. Which is why I am using a desktop monitor on it.

mattcky666 · Post by **mattcky666** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 5:13 pm

Gmc wrote:Nice review. I'm not getting a PSP til its out here in the UK, dunno when thats going to be though
The dead pixel thing seems pretty annoying, stupid sony manufacturing everything on the cheap

some online shops say next month/may ish for the PSP to come out, however i reckon it'll be more july-ish (if a release dates hasnt been annonced

sucks about the dead pixels though, perhaps it will be sorted if a load of shops/customers complain, however i seriously doubt it after reading that report on the square button and the screen thing

Post by **melancholy** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:24 am

Dr Wily wrote:apparently SOA don't consider bad pixels a defect so won't be allowing returns of them, so you'd better just suck it up.

I shouldn't think its that big of a deal if you didn't even notice yourself - dead pixels on tfts is fairly common.

See, that's what I'm thinking too. If I didn't even notice they are there until someone pointed them out (I thought it was just dust, since the screen is a magnet for dirt), and they do not even show up unless the screen is black, then I probably shouldn't concern myself with it. I'm afraid that if I take it back, the next one might have only one dead pixel in the dead center of the screen. That would really irritate me. My current issue is more of a slight annoyance, but nothing to get worked up about.

Jigoku wrote:forgot to mention, see those two holes on the top of the psp (next to the usb)? yup, they're 'speakers' too lol

Now I know those cannot be speakers. They have threads inside of them for stuff to screw into the top. In fact, there are Pelican accessories that already take advantage of those holes for a faceplate that covers the screen. They wouldn't put speakers in holes that are meant to be covered up...although I wouldn't put it past them to do something dumb like that. Speaking of which...

mattcky666 wrote:that report on the square button

Ah, another thing I forgot to cover in my review. You do slightly notice the offset when you press towards the edge. However, the reponsiveness of the Square button is solid and does not interefere whatsoever with gameplay. In fact, if I didn't read about it prior, I would have never noticed the problem. Now, the true question is how well will it hold up to constant use, which is something we will not know for quite a while.

Lunchbox · Post by **Lunchbox** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:29 am

The burning question we're all dying to know the answer to....

How far can you shoot a UMD?

Seriously, have you been able to do that yet? I heard the problem was fixed

gamedudex2 · Post by **gamedudex2** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:37 am

DrFreeze wrote:i think ill wait till E3 before making up my mind finally, DS looks ok and has some cool stuff, PSP has killer graphics and just looks sweet

then there is the new gameboy which is rumored to be shown at E3, ive read that at some point ninty was even experimenting with GC technology in a handheld

ii doubt at e3 but who knows. maybe by next ces we might get news much like they did for ds.

but remeber back when the gamecube came out i think it was iwata, that said it. they said that the gc dics could possibly be used for a future handheld. if the next gameboy plays cube games i'm sold. but i doubt will be out til eitehr slihglty before the revolution or afte r the revolution.

Post by **melancholy** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:37 am

Lunchbox wrote:The burning question we're all dying to know the answer to....

How far can you shoot a UMD?

Seriously, have you been able to do that yet? I heard the problem was fixed

Ah, another good question. And no, I am not stupid enough to bend my PSP just to make a disc shoot out. So I bent the demo PSP at work instead.

However, my efforts proved futile, since the disc never ejected from constant bending. So either I was doing it wrong, or they really did fix it. I will note, however, that both my PSP and the demo PSP have a catch in place so that when you do eject the disc, the disc pops up a quarter of an inch, but then catches on something and stops, preventing the disc from ever 'shooting out'. So in that respect, the shooting problem was fix. But the accidental ejecting is still up in the air, although I couldn't get it to do it.

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:49 am

It seems like the only plus for the psp is some solid psp exclusive games, but only for 4 hours a day.

...how about a much, much larger and better screen and non-awful control setup?

Pyrosurfer · Post by **Pyrosurfer** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 1:37 am

I'm starting to regret that I ever bought a DS. The developers are using the system as a GBA with a touch screen. Most of the games are 2D, and aren't even games, rather mini-games. Now 2D games are good, but they make up the majority of the game lineup (not good). I beat mario 64 DS and loved it. I would like to see a good fps on the DS (not metroid).