Alright, I wrote this back in September when it was first released.
and a half years after the PSP was launched, Sony unveils a new PSP model. Instead of being an entirely different design, it's just a remodeled, slimmed down version of the original. When I heard the news of the new PSP-2001 (Slim), I became excited and I began to want one.
Thankfully, my mom and my sister bought me a Slim as an early birthday gift. I got it yesterday and after spending some time with it, I can definetly say that it's a worthy upgrade if you want something lighter and sleeker.
Alright, here's what I've observed. When I saw the Daxter PSP Slim Bundle box, I realized that the packaging looked a bit cheap... It looked like some kind of plastic toy box with a huge figurine. LOL!
The great thing about this Silver PSP Slim is that it doesn't get smudged easily. You can't see fingerprints on it unlike the original Black PSP which was a a MAJOR fingerprint magnet. So you don't have to worry about it attracting fingerprints.
When I first held the PSP Slim in my hand, I was really surprised. It felt amazingly light! It felt so light that it makes the old PSP feel like weights for weight lifting. Although I noticed that the PSP Slim feels a lot cheaper in terms of the material... Like the Slim feels like a cheap toy. I guess Sony did that to cut costs. But you'll eventually get used to it.
The buttons are better. I noticed that the D-Pad has been raised and it's not loose like before. It feels like a PS2/PS3 D-Pad. Now you can play games like Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Tekken with ease.
The screen looks brighter. It's quite obvious. But maybe because it's newly opened... I also noticed less ghosting on my new Slim.
The memory stick slot has been changed. You have to pull it to open it. It looks quite cheap too...
The UMD slot also changed. Instead of just flicking a switch like the old one, you have to pull it open. It also looks very fragile... It's as if the inner metal parts can snap easily... But I paid close attention to the metal parts, and it seems quite strong so you don't really have to worry about it breaking unless you accidently insert the UMD the wrong way... The speakers are now on the front of the PSP unlike the old one where it's located at the VERY bottom. The sound isn't louder, but the quality is definetly better.
The wi-fi switch has been moved to the top in place of the IR which has been removed.
The headphone/remote slot has been moved a bit to the right.
The PSP Slim also has 27 new color themes, TV Connectivity, Faster loading times for UMDs and Charge over USB.
I tested the internet browsing, and I haven't experienced any memory shortage while browsing 3 webpages at once. On the old PSP I experienced a lot of memory shortage even when just browsing 2 webpages.
I also tested the TV connectivity. Sadly, I couldn't play games on my TV since I own an SDTV and not HDTV. But I was able to listen to music, browse photos, watch videos and open the Internet Browser on the TV. The image quality of the videos are amazing on the TV. The Family Guy UMD that came with my Silver PSP looks great on the TV. It has DVD quality! There's no pixelation. Overall, the TV Connectivity is great even if I couldn't try out games.
I had one problem when I was playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance. When I'm in the game and I go to the Hero select menu, the game suddenly freezes. But when I turned off the Data Cache mode in the Settings, the game didn't freeze. I guess the game I was playing had some issues with the Data Cache option... But that's the only game so far that I had a problem with. All the other games I tried like Tekken DR, MGS
O, Prince of Persia, GTA:LCS and Daxter seem to work fine with the Data Cache option on with noticably faster loading times.
Final Verdict: The PSP Slim is a great addition to the Sony family. Even if it's just a minor improvement, it's still a great upgrade if you want something lighter and slimmer. But I don't suggest you buy it if you already own a PSP and if your not that interested in the faster loading times/TV connectivity. I'm very happy with my new PSP Slim. Especially since the load times on most of my UMDs are reduced. So, if you're interested in the new Slim, I suggest you buy it!
The PSP Slim costs the exact same price as the old Fat PSP and is eventually going to replace the current fat model. So, if you own a Fat PSP, I suggest you hold on to it since it just might turn out to be a collectors item in the future! LOL! I just gave my old Fat PSP to my brother. I'm not sure if it's available in the Philippines yet... If your planning on buying a Slim, I suggest you get the Silver Daxter Bundle pack. It contains a 1GB Memory stick, Daxter game, Family Guy (5 episodes) and a Silver PSP Slim.
The Silver Daxter PSP Slim pack retails for 199.99$ Other colors such as Black and White will arrive sometime in October.
I hope this review helped you guys that are interested in the new Slim. Please leave a comment! (^_^)
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