4 pet peeves with the new PSP
- September 06, 2007 18:55 PM PST
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It's here, and it's fabulous. But it's not perfect! No, sir, the "PSP-2000" has a few design blemishes that interfere with an otherwise excellent handheld system. Here they are, ranked by priority.
Smooth surfaces = sticky fingers.
1. Sticky directional pad
Our biggest gripe by far. The PSP-2000's reworked directional pad and face buttons are dreamy: soft, responsive, and almost as comfortable as the PS3's Sixaxis controller.
But there's a dark side, and it's one you won't notice right away. Rather than cover the PSP-2000's d-pad with the fine "grain" texture found on all PlayStation d-pads, they left the surface plastic smooth and flat. This causes a problem: in hotter conditions your sweat will make your thumb "stick" to the d-pad. This can be downright frustrating when playing games like Tekken, where you must rapidly fire off complex movement commands.
Our theory is that the "grain" texture found on the company's other d-pads is secretly designed to combat the effects of sweaty hands. Your sweat droplets drip (ewww) into the tiny grooves on the d-pad, but evaporate before they gunk up your thumb. Because the PSP doesn't have this surface texture, you'll have a tacky thumb before you know it, especially on a sweltering summer day. This isn't a deal-breaker, and we still think the new d-pad is a huge improvement over the original PSP's. But we're also a bit surprised that Sony forgot this important, if tiny, detail...especially when all their other controllers already have it!
I bent my Wookie!
2. New UMD slot
This one could be problematic for young kids. During my first play on the PSP-2000, and me being the klutz I am, I accidentally dropped a UMD backwards into the new UMD slot. I quickly realized that I'd inserted it backwards, but as I tried to extract it the disc got stuck. After a minute or two of careful prying and lifting, I was able to extract the disk...before noticing that I had bent a thin retaining leaf inside the UMD slot. D'oh! Luckily this doesn't seem to cause any real problems.
From now on, I'll always remember the right way to insert UMD discs, but I could see quite a few kids getting confused by this new disk loading system. And though the "damage" suffered to my PSP-2000 is minor, it's a small detail that could cause bigger problems in the wrong hands. Here's hoping it doesn't!
One plug too many
3. Too many separate outputs and inputs
A mini-USB port. A power port. A headphone jack, and a video out port. Even a Memory Stick slot! Sony should have taken a cue from Apple's iPod and found a way to integrate all, or most, of these inputs and outputs into one sleek multi-function port.
An exception could be made for the mini-USB port, which allows you to hook up cameras and other peripherals to your PSP. But otherwise, integration would have made for an even cleaner-looking system and the need to pack fewer cables for long trips.
Plastic isn't as sexy as metal
4. Plastic bezel
It's likely that this was a necessary sacrifice, but it's still a sad one. When we first got our hands on the original PSP way back in 2005 (!), we were impressed by its sturdy, almost industrial design -- especially the metal bezel that acted as a rock-solid core and center of gravity for the system. It just screamed "classy."
In the name of reducing weight (and possibly costs), Sony has quietly changed this design to a plastic bezel with the PSP-2000. It's still sturdy, but it's missing that certain sophisticated charm.
