iPod vs. PSP

[fmgtech]

Just curious if these two devices can be compared and what people think about the PSP as a device to watch movies. Not so much emphasis on the games although I know that is its primary purpose.

I would be interested in knowing if people are using the PSP for things other than games and how they like it.

[OWC Larry]

I honestly know very little about the PSP... but if not mistaken, the only movies it plays are special PSP movie discs that cost a little more than regular DVDs.

[Golfer]

You can rip just about any movie to play on a PSP. Using something like Handbrake you can get an entire 1 1/2 - 2 hour movie on a 256 MB duo stick. Anything you can play on iPod, with the exception of movies purchased at the iTunes store because of DRM, will play on a PSP (if you use something like Mac the Ripper to remove commercial protection). I prefer the PSP for movies, the screen is bigger and in widescreen ratio. Downside is storing the movies, if you only have a 1 G duo stick, you can only hold about 4 movies at a time. If they ever add more on-board storage for a PSP, it would beat the iPod hands down in my opinion. Been looking into the possibility of a small portable USB HD to hook up to the PSP to solve to storage problem, but not sure if it would work, need to delve into it father.

[fmgtech]

Some of the reviews I have read on the PSP state that it is a real bargain for the money because Sony is trying to compete with the new Nintendo DS unit. The screen on the Sony is supposed to be really good.

Another interesting feature is that the PSP supports web browsing via WIFI. Pretty cool.

[Big Daddy Cool]

yeah, what they said. wifi, great for movies, games, etc. Somebody makes a 4Gb HD/battery pack combo, but its a little costly. But I've seen 2Gb memory sticks duo pro for $82 after rebate

[fmgtech]

The proprietary movies are the ones put out on the UMD disks which hold 1.8 GB, but you can also put movies on the Memory Stick. There are numerous software programs that support this. There is still the problem that has always been typical of Sony, too much proprietary stuff like UMD and memory sticks. A lot of people won't consider Sony for this reason and that's one of the reasons I decided on a Canon MiniDV camcorder instead of a Sony. Canon uses SD card for stills and of course Sony uses Memory Stick.

[volcs0]

I have a PSP - I have never played a game on it. I use it only for watching movies on trips. Right now, I have the entire second season of Galactica on one 1 gb memory stick. It really is a beautiful machine.

[rexrzer]

PSPs are great video viewers, as some of the nice people have written. I really appreciate my Epson P-2000 viewer's 3.8" 212ppi 264k colors LCD, too. With a 36.5GB (formatted) Fat32 HDrive inside, there's tons of room for movies. I have 25 films inside my P-2000 at last count, and will often watch one at night in bed when I don't want to disturb my wife's sleep.

The only hang-up is the battery's only good for one 2-hour film, then it's recharge time. I wrote a long, involved tutorial about how to make films for the P-2000 on these fine pages about a month ago:
http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/500...#msg-50048

It's no Video iPod Killer by any means, as the process for making the movies is very long and involved, but the results are spectacular. My wife's Video iPod 30GB is a very slick piece of market share, one that's incredibly easy to make films for by comparison, but the tiny little LCD screen without the excellent resolution of the P-2000 kindof sucks. Maybe one of these fine days Apple will release a Video iPod with a screen to rival the P-2000, but for my $$$ I'll take the Epson every time.

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[RAMd®d]

I picked up some info on the Epson 4000 at Macworld, and it's very tempting.

For me it wouldn't replace an iPod as the very small form factor allows me to carry it daily, and the latest 'Pods are practically paper thin.

[StingMe]

The PSP has a beautiful widescreen display that is perfect for watching video on the go. I got my Free PSP (don't worry, I won't post a referral link ;-) a few months ago, scored a killer deal on a 1GB memory stick, loaded it up with about 8 hours of Seinfeld episodes, 8 hours of music, dozens of photos, and I bought the Namco Museum UMD (includes the classic versions of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, Rolling Thunder and others as well as modern versions of many - what can I say, I'm a child of the 80s). This made the PSP a wonderful companion for an 8-hr flight. I also picked up the Logitech PlayGear Pocket for the PSP - a protective polycarbonate case that doubles as a stand...perfect for those airline tray tables. Oh, and I was able to connect to airport wi-fi for web browsing (a little awkward without a keyboard, but still pretty cool).

All in all, I don't see how any current iPod could compete in this particular application.