PSP Blogger - PlayStation® Portable Fansite

As with all electronic devices faults are due to arise some how or the other. This can be due to electronic failure, drop damage or even your dog who decided to have an electronic snack. Or maybe you’re just looking at cleaning your PSP after a pretty heavy weekend with Monster Hunter. The following tips should help you out with these little headaches.

The Faceplate

If you’re planning on adding a new look to your PSP or just wanting to replace your cracked faceplate this guide might just be what you need.

Note: Some people have noticed a very tiny crack in the plastic right next to one of the corners of the PSP screen. This according to Sony is perfectly normal and there’s no need to replace your faceplate.

Faulty LCD Screen

I’m sure you have a pretty good explanation as to why your PSP LCD is cracked but either way, this guide should help you replace the screen without the worry of damaging any other components.

UMD Metal Ring Scratches

As you might have noticed, the metal ring on the backplate of the Slim PSP is a magnet for scratches. You might want to consider getting yourself a protective case. Otherwise the following tips be able to assist you on removing those dreadful battle scars.

Power Switch Replacement

If for some odd reason your power switch decided to go to heaven then this guide will show you where and how to solder on a new one.

Replacing UMD Door

Ok, Golden Compass is a real crappy game but there’s no need to break the UMD door. Lukily this handy guide will show you how to replace the poor thing.

Cleaning LCD Screen

Most common thing seems to be a dirty LCD screen. We don’t even want to imagine how it would look like if it was a touch screen. Anyway this guide will help you to make it all nice and sparkly again.

Unbricking

So you tried to run custom firmware but things didn’t really go according to plan. The lights on the PSP are on but nobody’s home. There might however be light and the end the tunnel by checking out this guide.

Cleaning Analog Stick

The biggest problem with cleaning the stick is the little grips on top. All the dirt tends to make home there but this guide will show you how to make you analog stick look like new.

Waterproofing

Why someone would want to make their PSP waterproof is beyond me, but here you go anyway.

If you're maybe planning on replacing your current PSP faceplates then you might want to have a look at the chrome covers available.

CoolMods seems to be one of the few places that actually stock these and some other weird looking designs (Camy face anybody?). This video should give you a pretty good idea of what the end result will look like.

All PSP owners should by this time be familiar with the recently added service Go!Messenger (GM). PSP users should also be familiar with the fact that there are hardly ever people online. Currently we have about 146 contacts on our list and we've only seen someone online about four times.

The primary features of this service are voice and video chat. The problem however is that very few PSP users actually own the peripherals that allows this. Yes you also have the option of instant messaging but without the not yet released Qwerty keyboard this can be quite a tedious task. I personally like the idea of connecting to PSP users worldwide even if it’s only to say “hello” but due to the lack of users owning the proper accessories this service is really losing its potential.

Most people use their PSP for games or music and even by reducing the price on the peripherals very few users will actually bother using the service which is quite a shame. A much easier option would be to simply install GM on your PC for easier text messaging but that would pretty much defeat the object of having the service on your PSP altogether.

In the end Sony had a good idea here but unfortunately the service is pretty much dying. Hopefully the Qwerty keyboard will be released soon at an affordable price (which we pretty much doubt).

Feel free to add your GM nickname in the comments section and maybe you might just get lucky and find some people online.

This is a follow up to the article 100 Reasons to own a PSP.

Well since the previous article seemed to have caused some confusion I decided to clear things up a bit. I received plenty of mails complementing me on finding 100 reasons but I also received some mails informing me that the list is super lame. According to these readers functions like clock, mute, integrated speakers and even gamepad lock is extremely stupid. Well, they are simple and stupid but there’s a reason why I listed them believe it not. I also received five mails explaining that you need custom firmware for 333 MHz processor speed. Where on earth do you people hear these things? You don't need CFW for that as the full processor clock has been unlocked with the release of OFW 3.50 (GOW supports 333 Mhz). I honestly don’t usually follow up on my previous articles with another article but since I didn’t really explain why I listed some of these simple features I figured it might be worthwhile.

So here goes, the listed features most people complain about…

#11 – Mute

Why on earth would someone list a function as simple as mute? Well there are people out there who actually like to use this function you know. I have 2 MP3 players (JNC and Asus) and they simply don’t include this function. I also have a Gameboy Advance that does not include this function either. Mute is handy, and it’s something I want when purchasing a unit that can play movies and music.

#40 – Calendar / Date

Another function that’s missing on my GBA and other devices and yes I sometimes forget the date, I’m only human.

#41 – Intergraded Speakers

I own a very expensive iPod and yet this funky little device does not have speakers. You’ll be surprised at how many people use their PSP for some music in the background while reading or whatever.

#66 – Over 30 million units sold worldwide

There is no point in getting a gaming console that doesn’t sell.

#67 – Current best seller in Japan

Most of the titles I play are Japanese RPG’s. If the sales go up then more developers will focus on the console.

#78 – Gamepad Lock

Yes I’m one of the few that likes watching movies on their PSP. The lock assures that no accidental button presses will hinder the movie playback.

#83 – Clock

The clock is another function missing from my Gameboy Advance and some other handheld devices. I also like the idea that I can press the Home button while playing a game to quickly have a look at the time.

#84 – Stereo Sound

I have this real nice Samsung cellphone that supports MP3’s but only has mono sound and like I mentioned previously my iPod doesn’t even have speakers.

#86 – Future DivX support

This function is something that will be featured on the PSP soon and it’s really something to look forward too.

Like I mentioned in the previous article; while some of these functions might seem simple or even pointless to you, they might be of great importance to someone else.

I’ve honestly seen some really weird PSP accessories but this one takes the cake. Can you imagine playing God of War while taking a shower, having a bath (hey wait I do that) or even while swimming? These Japanese dudes however seem to think it’s perfectly normal with their Aquatalk waterproof PSP wallet.

I actually thought really hard about why someone would actually buy one of these and could seriously not come up with any sane reason. Yeah it might be quite funny actually owning one of these things (South Africa won’t see it I promise you) but how many people will actually go buy one?

Surely there must be a production line for these accessories since I can’t really see them promoting the product if it doesn’t sell. Some really weird people out if you ask me. Well on your next trip to Japan be sure to check out the local swimming pools since you might just find some chap swimming and playing Final Fantasy on his PSP.

Welcome to another episode of Pimp your PSP (actually this is the first episode). Our lucky selected winner is Mr. Solid Snake from CSI and he’s getting his very much broken PSP pimped! (Imagine that)

The first step is to replace the screen but that seems like effort so we’ll just replace the whole damn thing. Second step is to give some style and this is where Decalgirl comes in.

Decalgirl is an online store that offers a massive variety of skins for not just PSP but any console as well as iPods and cell phones. The great thing about these skins is that they keep your PSP scratch free, are available for the slim and fat series, removes easily without any sticky residue and pretty affordable (they also ship to South Africa).

So if you’re scared about scratching you PSP or just want to give it some style Decalgirl might just be the shop you need. We decided to use the crime scene skin for our CSI client as shown above.