Sony PSP gO

2009 HOLIDAY BUYING GUIDE VS STYLE

PRICE – $249.99

The PSP go is Sony’s latest device in the PlayStation Portable family, which has seen three different models since it was originally launched in 2005.

The latest is something of a departure for the line, since it’s an all-digital handheld with 16 GB of built-in memory. It also sports a much smaller sleeker design since the UMD drive has been removed, but still has a 3.8-inch screen plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

It was released on October 1 in Ceramic White and Piano Black, and retails for $250.

DESIGN & BUILD:

The PSP Go is beautifully designed, and should incite lust in gadget lovers of all kinds, even if they aren’t necessarily gamers. It can be best described as the elegant little brother of the original PSP, but thinner, slimmer, and lighter. Most of the space savings is in the narrower width of the device, since Sony went with a slider design and placed most of the controls on the lower panel.

Display
The display on the Go is smaller than on the original device; roughly 3.8-inch on the new model instead of 4.3-inch on the original. Even with that apparent downgrade, I’m really happy with the screen on the PSP Go — it’s bright, vibrant, and incredibly sharp. I didn’t see any ghosting or interlacing, which was a problem on some of the early PSP 3000 models. And even though the screen is a bit smaller, I really don’t miss the extra real estate either — games and movies scale appropriately to fill the whole screen, and everything looks great.

There are three different brightness levels. The brightest setting is almost uncomfortably bright, while the lowest setting is the most comfortable for late night viewing in a darkened room. The lower your brightness setting, the more battery life you can eke out, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Gaming Buttons/Controls
Since the PSP Go is so small, its controls are located in several different areas of the device.

The home key of the original PSP has been replaced on the Go by a PlayStation key which serves the same function as before with the addition of a game pause function. Since the Go is meant to be an extremely mobile device, it makes sense that there will be times you need to stop playing at a moment’s notice and you won’t have time to hunt around for a save point. (More about this later in the review.)

The main gameplay controls are under the slider, including the D-pad, the analog nub, the Start/Select buttons, and the face buttons. The controls are pleasantly tight, yet also a bit “clicky” for good tactile feedback. The analog nub in particular feels great, and I didn’t experience any thumb strain, even when using it for long periods of time. The shoulder buttons on the top edge of the device don’t have as much “play” as on the original PSP, but they work great and I didn’t have any problems.

ONCE AGAIN A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ALL YOU GAMERS OUT THERE,

HEY I HAD TO GET ONE

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