New and thinking about getting a PSP(?)

[lessname]

Hey guys,

I'm Andrew and I'm 19. I'm new here and I'm thinking about getting a PSP. Not for games though oddly enough though!

I'm going to be going on a month-long vacation in the summer and it would be nice to finally have some sort of an entertainment device to bring with me. I want something that I can use to watch videos, view pictures, listen to music, play basic games (Tetris/Mario type stuff), and connect to the Internet.
All of those things (well, except the games maybe) are pretty vital to me.

The PSP seems to be the only thing that has all five of these things. I guess I could get a PDA, but they're going to be more expensive.

Do you guys think I'm in the right ballpark? I mean I suppose I could get an iPod, which ALMOST meets my criteria, but it's lacking one BIG important thing: wifi/browser (I'll definitely need to check my email while on vacation.)

Thoughts/advice/suggestions?

[julie]

id say get a cheap laptop instead. u can get something that will fit youre needs for between 250 and 400

psp wont be able to get new videos, so youll be limited to what u can fit on the memory card. a 4gb stick will run u around 75$. the psp is already around $200, so your getting close to 300 already

the psp will be limited again to what u can fit on the stick, and the browser cant play flash games. u get a laptop and u have access to ebaumsworld and newgrounds.com as well as all the snes/nes/etc roms u can carry. psp umd's run u about 25-50 bucks a pop. u buy 4 games and youll be close to $200 ontop of the $300 u already spent on the psp and memory card. $500 so far, well in the budget for a laptop

most laptops in that price range will support wifi, so u can still check forums, email, instant messange, upload photos u take while on vacation, and surf the net more effectivly then a psp can. the psp has a browser that is pretty skanky to say the least... it doesnt support most flash sites, it runs out of virtual memory easly, it takes awhile to load pages, and it doesnt show some pages correctly. typing is aslo extremely awkward as it takes some time to enter urls and input search criteria

for the 3rd time, the psp is limited by its memory card, so youll already have a bunch of emulators and videos on it right? not much room for music. again, the laptop seems like a better deal.

a basic used laptop on ebay (like a 2 yr old dell) will only cost around $450 if u shop around. youll proly get a wifi card, 60gb hard drive, decent processor, and half a gig of ram. equip it with the nessacary programs and youll be more then set for a month long trip. rip all your music, rip some movies, get some emulators install, etc.

in closing, i feel youd be happier w/ a laptop for this vacation simply because it exceeds the psp on every level. web browsing is easier, the psp cant view streaming video while the laptop can, u can get new music with the laptop and it will play the basic games u want.

EDIT:

and since im such a sweetheart, heres a few ebay laptops that fit your needs and the sub $500 budget. im partical to dell since ive had an great experence w/ my 5150, so all these are dell brand laptops. here we go:

Dell B-130: $550
Dell D600: $450.00
Dell Latitude C840: $499
Dell Latitude C640: $479

this is just a small sample of what u could get if u shop around

[outsider]

Originally Posted by julie

...and since im such a sweetheart...

hmmmm.....i dont know about that


and yea a laptop would fit your requirements better than a psp.

[brokensafety]

the reasons to get an ipod
1. 30gigs on the hard drive can hold alot of music and movies
2. It fits in your pocket where as you would need a backpack or case to hold your laptop
3. there are alot of internet cafes allover the world unless your going to the desert or a polar cap i think you will find one
4. the battery on the ipod lasts for like twenty hours when listening to music and around 8 when watching video, and if your trying to save money on yur laptop and buy a six cell battery your battery will run out every couple of hours

my only advice to you is that if you do buy a laptop and are going to europe watch your back cause people will steal it for the parts even if you have a password on it

Edit- you can also find an ipod on ebay no fakes for about $200 which is less than half of the basic laptop

[julie]

he wants to play games as well as surf the net. ipods dont allow either one

aslo, since its a vacation, he would only need the laptop to keep him entetained at night since he'll be out doing shit during the day. id imagine he wouldnt need to worry about the laptop outside his hotel room, so he could be on AC power all the time

[lessname]

Thank you guys for your help, I really appreciate it. I really hate to say it, but I don't think a laptop is quite down my ally for a few reasons. I've already got a $1,500 computer I built (as of late February last year, it was one of the best configurations one could build at that time.) The other thing is, laptops are big and bulk, I just want something I can fit in my pocket. Remember, like I said I'll be going on a vacation, but it's not like after the vacation is over I'm going to ditch whatever I end up buying. Whatever I do buy, I want it to be something I can use at school (long after the vacation is done with) without attracting too much attention when I'm working by myself (AFAIK there's no way to condense a laptop so I can get it into my pocket. )

I did find some other thing, it's called the "Archos 604 Wifi", it's a 30gb MP3 player with wifi + a Web browser. Just about all of the basic features of a PSP, but with the harddrive.

Now that you guys know a laptop isn't what I'm looking for (though I do commend you for the suggestion ), do you still feel the same that I shouldn't get a PSP for the reasons I listed?

Thank you folks,
Andrew

[julie]

psp is a game system w/ a few frills. no more, no less.

4gb is hardly enough to make it a good mp3 player, nor does it allow you to carry many videos. its internet sucks unless u just wanna check your email. the games are expensive and usually not very good, and its rather delicate when compared to a ipod or pda.

i love my psp, but it doesnt excel at anything, rather it is alright at doing some things and pretty bad at others

[IONz]

Welcome to the forums.......and I'd definitely say if you're using the PSP for gaming get it.....otherwise get something else.....like julie said the other features are mediocre

[julie]

Originally Posted by julie

and since im such a sweetheart

Originally Posted by outsider

hmmmm.....i dont know about that

u really dont know me well enough to make that judgement, now do ya?

[DarkED]

Here's a tip - don't buy a Dell laptop. They call them craptops for a reason. Trust me, I work with computers for a living. I see this happen every single day.

And I understand Julie has had a good experience with hers, but I bet you $50 it's less than two years old, and I also bet you another $50 the warranty isn't up yet.

Dell laptops NEVER last, and the warranty is next to useless. And they always seem to fail RIGHT after the warranty goes. Oh yeah, and Dell uses 'proprietary' (meaning, their own design) hardware most of the time, so on an average Dell laptop, after the warranty is out if it dies you might as well trash it, and if you dont want to, good luck finding suitable replacement parts for it outside of Dell (who will charge an arm and a leg, plus your firstborn.) You might think "A computer is a computer! It'll take whatever I put in it!" Well, it's not - Dell uses a special BIOS that locks you out of using third-party RAM or a new CPU or a HDD. The BIOS will not allow the system to run if it finds something in it not sold to you by (guess who) Dell.

Don't believe me? Give me a GOOD reason why Dell's shit is so cheap. It's because it's the LOWEST POSSIBLE QUALITY.

If you want a good solid laptop (for cheap) you should try looking at some of Gateway's offerings. Gateway had a bad rap in the 90's but now they are second to none as far as quality in low-end laptops goes. It'll be just a tad more expensive than a Dell laptop, but if you were gonna spend $400 starting out on a PSP anyways I don't think an extra $200 would kill you for a laptop. I guarantee, you buy a Gateway laptop today (and take proper care of it) and it'll still be kicking five years from now, plus it'll be faster (Gateway uses faster RAM in their machines, which translates to faster front side bus speed and faster core CPU speed) and come with better features.

Actually, now that I mention it, don't buy ANYTHING from Dell - except LCD displays. They make some of the best gaming LCD's I've ever seen, and affordable too. And, unlike everything else Dell makes, their LCD's seem to last.

[julie]

ive had my inspiron 5150 for close to 4 yrs now. never had a problem

[justinisloco]

/\

If you've had a computer for more than 3 years, no matter how great, i always say get a new one soon... but if you've never had a problem more power to you

[julie]

all i use it for is chat, flash games, music, and ebay business. its not a gaming rig

[R3TR3C]

I've upgraded my newest PC for some pretty hardcore gaming. The only problem is when I tried to upgrade the case, I found out my mobo was proprietary and only fit the case that came with my PC (I'm not using dell just a machine that I grabbed parts from other machines to begin with and upgraded it as I went on.) So basically I just need to buy a new mobo which I am about to do and then I'll be good to go in a fully customizable PC and not some proprietary POS. All my parts now are things I've added myself except for the mobo which I had no idea that it had a weird setup. The only problem is that its not wide enough for the new backplate of my new case so that'll be taken care of when i upgrade the mobo.

[RavenII]

I'd like to chime in if I may...Dell laptops do not suck. I've had an Inspiron 8200 for...wow, too long and it's still ticking...loudly. My girlfriend has a D600? and it's still doing good.

To the OP, of all the things you want, I'd recommend a Nokia 770 or a Nokia N800. I owned a 770 and I miss it a lot!...with it you get a lot.

Best web browsing in a package that small.
Porn: yeah, does that too...along with other movies.
Games: Checkout www.maemo.org and look for them.
Music: of course.
Screen Res: 800x640? or was it 480? either or, it's dope
OS: linux based meaning that people are constantly making apps and games for it.

This is of course based on opinion. The above was what the 770 will do. The N800 adds more memory, faster cpu, newer OS version, flash (although it's slow), and 2 SD card slots as opposed to the RSMMC (MMCMobile) slot on the 770. Take care.