[DarthMonkey]

Title: PiMPStreamer
Firmware: 1.50 (original) or 3.xx (Custom)
Description: Stream media files such as AVI and MP3 from your PC, play them on your PSP!
Genre: Tools

-=DOWNLOAD HERE=-

PiMPStreamer is something fairly unique - although it is based on another, open-source, app. It can stream media such as MP3, AVI, MPG, MP4, WMA, and a few others, over your home WiFi network to your PSP - or even to your Wii, PS3, another PC or XBox (Although XBox has something like this built-in and Windows PCs don't need this at all, really) It works fine with widescreen video as well as normal aspect ratio video, and pretty much any audio format works fine - with the excetion of RM audio.

It's pretty cool to access your entire 12-gig music collection on your psp - and even cooler to watch your 400-gig anime collection (I'm such a nerd) on it too. This is the power of PiMPStreamer!

The complex setup, ugly interface and rough-and-tumble navigation may turn some off to this homebrew, though. It definitely takes some getting used to, and a little know-how (just a little). The interface is pretty in some areas, with shiny buttons and easy-to-read captions - but when you actually get to viewing the media filenames, it's just an ugly purple background with white text.

After the initial setup, it's quick enough to get the program started. It takes me about 45 seconds to start playing music on it. This is a substantial amount of seconds, but it's better than nothing.

The play controls are clunky. And even after getting used to them, they seem to be insufficient for some mediaphiles. But if you just want to hit "Play" and let the song or video do the rest, it's probably just right for you.

Of course, the video quality is noticeably worse after going through PiMPStreamer. It does have to re-encode and compress the files so they can be played on the PSP's screen and be transmitted wirelessly without laggy video. The quality can be adjusted from your PC or from the PSP, but it may hurt performance if you set it too high.

Music sounds pretty much the same on the PSP end as it does on the PC, so don't worry about distortion or grainy vocals.

Now, what uses does it have? Well, here's a few things I've used it for:

-Watching anime in bed (So nerdy)
-Plug it into the stereo downstairs and let rip the music on my PC without expensive wireless equipment.
-Plug it into the car stereo and listen to music while cleaning it out.

I use it all the time. If you have a fair media collection and don't wish to crowd your MS, lost your iPod, don't have an iPod (like me) or just want to stream your music and video to the psp, then consider downloading it now!