Buying a new psp - advice please

[steruth]

Am looking to buy my son a psp for xmas, best advice would be appreciated on what to buy and where, then also and if i can buy one ready to play backed up games etc!!

Advice where to go to get one, version required for he games for memory cards etc as im clueless...thanks in advance

[HAGRIDTHEHOG]

try bowlers computer fair in manchester by the trafford centre held every sat. theres a few traders doing modded consoles:ok

don't bother with Console Chipping (couple of pakistani lads based in oldham) one of the first stalls as you go into bowlers these used to do the liverpool fairs bunch of rip off merchants, and still trying to rip people off, they murdered my slim ps2 last year:gun

i was there early a couple of weeks ago looking for a wii, these lads had one for £400 chipped and said that the wii was near impossible to get hold of and this was his last one, trying to pressure me into buying it, what a load of bullshit, there was 3 other traders inside the main halls, all had a couple of wii's available for under £300 (they did sell the wii out fast)
i got one £280 lastest model with dc2key+ 12 months garentee on the console.

i got the wii from the chinese trader (sorry can't remember his name) who is in the far hall, he's been there for years and was very busy, he was all so taking orders for more wii's which were due in by 11.30am the same day, he does PSPs xbox360 ps3 etc.

try this site for info on how to do the PSP firmware hacks your self and everything else to get you started, or try the above route if you don't fancy having ago yourself.

_http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/

[Dave9946]

If you dont mind or want to do it yourself then buying new is not really an option. As everything these days on the psp is down to the firmware. And the new "lite" version is a total bugger to do due to the firmware version it uses.

And it would also mean buying a "pandora" battery to unlock it. And that would be another £20 plus.

Sure, Hagrid is right the best bet may well be a trip to Bowlers, but dont know how much they charge for them there these days as I've not been since last year. If you do go there for one make sure it comes with a memory card to put the games on. 1gb in the total minimum size card you should get. But a 4gb card would allow more games at once.

But if your on a budget goto your local city centre\shopping centre and get a used one. The one I got, whilst used was with a 12 month warrenty and a 1gb mem card, a 2 or 4gb would be far better though lol.

Anyways the firmware CANNOT be higher than 3.50 if you want to be able to change the firmware yourself to allow downloaded games to be played on it.

The used psp I got was 3.40. I had to upgrade the official firmware to version 3.50. Then simply using a game called Lumines and a guide from the site mentioned above, within 15 mins it was hacked via custom firmware playing anything I threw at it.

The Lumines hack method is by far the easiest. But the game MUST have the ULES 00043 on the sleve of the game case or UMD (the little cd). And the psp MUST not have a firmware version higher than 3.50.

[steruth]

Thanks a lot for your input you guys appreciated...

I would love to just purchase one ready done and memory card with games on...in an ideal world!! ha

How would i know what version etc it is until ive bought it?

[Dave9946]

I dont think there is a real way to tell the firmware version prior to getting one m8. I think it's a case of potluck. But there is probably a fair chance if getting a used one of it being no more than firmware 3.50.

Your best bet might be to ask to try one and goto the settings to check what version it is.

Other than that you could try asking them in the shop about one with earlyer firmware versions on. But it might make them slightly suspicious as to why you would want whats in effect an older operating system on a psp.

With the games it's worth noting that some of them go into the 1.5gb in file size. But it is possable to fairly easily rip the iso files to reduce the file size yourself to fit on a 1gb card.

Most games are still within a 1gb file size. But you would be lucky to fit at best 4 games on a 1gb mem card. So the bigger the mem card the better.

Changing games is as easy as putting an mp3 track on an mp3 player

[Teddyboysampson]

shaw somebody told me they were selling downgraded psp with games at bowlers computerfair in manchester if that is close to you. all the psp cam be downgraded but more are harder work.

try fle bay

Teddy:ok

[steruth]

Thanks a llot for the info again, i think a trip to bowlers is a great idea, always worth a visit even when buying nothing!!!

[molly2005]

hi steve , these are the details of the psp i bought off e bay recently for £195 all in.Sony PSP 1.5-3.10E+2GB Mem+20 Games-BNIB Silver Edition (japenese).
i originally thought the price was a bit steep but have since realised that it was a good price as it included a 2gb memory card and my choice of 20 games from an extensive list plus it was already hacked.

downloading games is a doddle (pspiso.com) and you just store them on your computer and chop and change as you like.

hope this helps , ste.

[dan_b_lucky]

dave do u still have the step by step guide for the lumines downgrade cheers dan

[Dave9946]

dave do u still have the step by step guide for the lumines downgrade cheers dan

Yep it's here somewere or the link to it is anyways. The thing is you NEED the correct version of the games first m8. As long as it says ULES 00043 on the disc you'll be fine. Also the psp's firmware as said cant be any higher than 3.50. It can be lower but certainly no higher.

[dan_b_lucky]

dave to u no if if this downgrade hack will work on a japenese white psp as i cant find any info cheers dan

[Dave9946]

I'm not to sure to be honest. But from the research I did trying to get mine sorted I realised that all area\regions use the same info posted on the various web sites.

Meaning the info SHOULD work on us, europe, japan etc models. If they all use the same info I cant see why it would'nt work m8 as it seems more of a case of the version of the firmware to start with rather than where it came from. The colour of the psp makes no difference from what I can see. It's just like having cars with different colours.

As long as the firmware is an official sony version to start with, no higher than 3.50 like I said then no problems.

Just as long as the psp is a non-lite version. But not that, that will come into it as a lite psp will have firmware way above 3.50 to start with m8.

[dan_b_lucky]

its a phat running 3.03. yet when i tryed in the past using the grand theft hack it would not work. i have seen a copy of lumnies (uls00043) in game recently so i'll try and see if its still there. if not i'm in liverpool for the day on the 29th would it be poss it meet up

[Dave9946]

I thought the Grand Theft Auto hack worked on the same lines as the Lumines one. But it seems everyone who can seems to prefer the Lumines way of doing things.

Prehaps like the Lumines way the G.T.A. also requires a certain version of firmware, prehaps 3.50 as well?.

Good luck getting the game m8 and nobody has beat you to it.

Other than that I'll prob be in on the 29th.

[dan_b_lucky]

all sorted got the game today