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Screen comparison of PSP, GBA & XDA IIs

One more week before the Sony PSP is available in North America, and I’ve got one to try for an evening! All I can say is wow! The screen is gorgeous; it is big, bright, colorful and sharp! Here are two photos of the O2 XDA IIs, PSP, and Game Boy Advance:

The PSP is a bit heavier than I expected, but the three games I tried all played well. Ridge Racer feels just like a console racing game, except you can play it anywhere.

Only issue seems to be the battery life, which lasts for about 4 hours of game play. Luckily, the battery can be swapped easily, so a spare (or two) would be needed for those long flights.

Did you know that some game interfaces (e.g. some EA games) were created with Flash?

36 replies on “Screen comparison of PSP, GBA & XDA IIs”

who the hell needs all this stuff – when I finished my hopefully creative working day in front of a screen – the last thing I would ever do is looking into such a tin can – it needs a terrifying underdeveloped fantasy and quite a bit of modesty as well to be delighted by these “children’s benefactors”. A simple book – about the same size – might do the job – there are really good ones out there – more than anyone could read in a livetime – and by the way – if there is truth, it’s right there. and if u are up for something more visual than your imagination try an open fireplace. game over!

That’s not really a comparison, is it?

At least have something running on the GBA and the Xda that show off what they’re capable of – screen grab on the Xda and a game on the GBA … I’m not partial either way since I own none of these. It would just be interesting to see detail to detail what PSP has to offer. Also, I’ve never played with a GBA 🙂 I own a PDA but the graphics are less than that of the Xda pic.

Although, even ignoring what’s on the screens, the PSP looks like quite the machine!

When you say heavy, is it mostly battery weight?

How are the controls?

Ryan: I guess one of the reasons why the PSP is battery-hungry is the use of the UMD (Sony’s new disc format). It would require much less energy to read from a solid-state cartridge instead of spinning and reading a disc. The large screen (in various brightness levels), stereo speakers, Wi-Fi are other factors too.

iDog: I don’t know who needs all this stuff. I know lots of people who want this stuff. Nothing beats reading a good book in front of the fireplace. However, all the good (e)books I read recently are on the XDA.

Derek: I’m not doing a full-scale comparison of the screens. It’s just a comparison of the different sizes and brightness. I don’t think screen grabs would do much justice, you have to see the screen in real life. The battery is actually quite small and is not heavy at all. I think it is the UMD mechanism and the solid-built quality of the PSP that adds to the weight. The controls feel ok; the analog joystick (round button on the bottom left) feels a bit too small for precise control though.

i’m fourteen, so its hard for me to make money, but i saved up for like a year and a half to get one. when i finally had enough money, i bought one and i must say its definately worth every penny. the graphics are just under ps2 or met to ps2, depending on the game, and the sound is so crisp and clear…the psp also has many uses besides gameplay. the memorystickDUO it comes with is a 32MB card, so you can put a few music tracks on the psp and shut off the screen and jam out to your tunes via connecting a USB cable between your computer (compatible with both Mac and Windows!) and your psp (cable sold seperatly) and just dragging and dropping mp3 files into the proper directory on your psp. i’m not sure if this is a version problem, but the four-hour battery life must be for the first version…i’ve got version 1.5 and it lasts about six. also, if you are into modding and hacking as i am, there are plenty of options for you, just be careful who you get your mods from. i recommend http://www.psp-hacks.com/ for quality “homebrew applications” and games without fear of viruses or turning your psp into a $250 brick. well, now you have my opinion on the psp, and the only downside to the system is a long load time (for midnight club 3, anyway…i’m not sure if it holds the same for all games). definately get this over a nintendo ds, if that’s what you’re deciding over.

In response to the above post, I’m pretty sure its only MC3 that has those loading times. All other games have reasonable loading times, most i think are really fast. Remember how long it takes to load GTA on the PS2? it barley takes a minute to load GTA:LCS on the PSP.

HEY EVERYONE!!!

HI JUST A FEW QUICK COMENTS

IM GETTING A PSP FOR XMAS AND WAS WONDERING ARE THEY WORTH THERE MONEY OR NOT AND ARE THEY AS GOOD GRAPHICS AS THE PLAYSTATION 2?

ALSO IS THE ANALOG STICK HARD TO USE OR WILL IT JUST TAKE A LITTLE WHILE TO GET USED TO IT?

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR COMENTS

CYAZ L8R PPL

i got a PSP for christmas, i think it is wonderful, the graphics and display are brilliant and they handle and control the same as the PS2, my only concern is the loading times, i played two games and realised in both that loading took quite a few minutes, overall an excellent console, would recommend it to anyone.

The PSP is just sooooo cool!!!!
I got one for christmas and the screen is amazing.
it is just so clear and sharp. Its a million times better than the gba.
you cant understant the psp without actuialy holding one. It feels very well built and solid.

ps. Has anyone seen the gizmondo.
its like a handheld with gprs, sms, bluetooth and its lolely for homebrew games. Its in the same price range as the psp

GBA vs. PSP – Both the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP & Sony PSP enjoyed by my son (who is 9 years old); however, it’s the games themselves that lead him to play more on the GBA than the PSP. He is hooked on anything Pokemon, and they are only available for Nintendo.

about the battery life, and i have version 2.00, it last 6hrs 10 min when 97% charged. does any1 know how to get version 2.60 or which game would come with that upgrade?

the PSP is awsome! the reason a 9-year-old kid would like GBA then PSP would be that PSP has mostly T and M games when a GBA has a lot of E and E10 games rather than T and M. I think u have to upgrade from 2.00 when its expired on ur PSP.

I JUST LOVE THE PSP I GOT ONE FOR XMAS IM JUST REALLY DISAPOINTED BECAUSE I HATE THE STUPID ANALOG STICK (IF U CAN CALL IT THAT)

i have a psp and i love it i have lots of accerisries and i like going on the internet on it (im on the internet right now typing) i have lots of dvds and games i dont like the anilog stick but some ppl might get use to it

i think all u guys and ladies out there should get burnout legends and the sims 2 they are fun!

email me if u want to ask me about stuff drkboze@yahoo.com

For those of you who come to this website go over to http://www.psp411.com or http://www.pspupdates.qj.net outstanding resourses for your psp needs and all questions answered. From what i’ve heard the PSP will be a remote for the PS3… (an expensive but useless nonetheless) if your looking at interconnectivity between great pieces of electronic equipment sony is something to worth looking into

I have wanted a PSP since I first heard about them and have been saving up for one but then I heard that the ps3 is coming out in spring I am wondering which one would be best.

i have a PSP.Alot of ppl are saying that psp sucks… but it grapics are better than Xboxs.Whatever you do… buy a psp. P.S. dont leave it out in the freezing cold.Battire dies quick.

I have a PSP and i really love it. I don`t care about the battery. The battry is ok. You can also buy the psp battry with (ca.)80% eXtra. That will hold much longer then the orginal psp battry. But, the PSP is just to cool – and you’ve have to Buy one. 🙂

i have:
Psp >
512mb mms duo
Extra level Battery
GTA LibertyCityStories
Burnout LEGENDS –
. P.s You will enjoy it!

HI DOES ANY ONE KNOW WERE THE CHEAPESTPLACE IS TO BY A PSP FROM I AM GETTING ONE BUT I WANT TO GET TE BEST DEAL I CAN ERM UK ONLY PLZ THAKS ALOT DAVID

I got a psp for christmas and they demolish the nintendo ds. By the way for the people asking about battery life the software version its running makes no difference to the battery life ive got 2.60 and the battery is the same as it was with 2.00 only problem is is a REAL BUGGER to keep clean id recommend a psp to anyone

i jus wondering cuz im saving up wats all the talk bout the battery life. and also my bro wanted a ds which is better why?

i got a psp it rocks! even though its $250 and has low battery life, the graphics r awesome! the games rule! and it has connection web surfing

The psp rock the ds sucks.PSP has better graphics
at least it came with a memory card!I held a psp
with a friend when it came out.I finally have a psp but now I have one!My older brother is jelous
becaus I have a ps2 & a psp [And Im a girl].

The PSP might have superior graphics but al the games really sucks gameplay wise. Iï½´ve got both a DS and a PSP but I havent touched the psp in ages. who wants to play fast 3d games on a tiny screen? Thats why nintendo has dominated the handheld market for so many years, they know its all about gameplay.

i luv psp im typing on one right now i heard that sony r relising tv on psp im from AUS so i dont no if there out in USA can somone help me

WTF PEOPLE… Does graphics matter??? Um no, you should be asking: Are the games any good? Secondly, is it a good system and what makes it a good system?

ANSWER TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS: PSP is a great portable entertainment unit that’s better than iPod or Nintendo DS. Plain and simple.

the hell with GBA. like many people, i got a psp for christmas and it’s great. It’s such a versatile thing; it plays music, videos, movies, games, pictures, and now with the newer firmwares it can go on the internet via wifi connection and watch tv. The graphics are brilliant (it actually depends on the game) and the screen is very sharp (i think it’s made by Sharp ,too). It’s not that heavy like people say. You wouldn’t really want it to be a light piece of plastic, would you? As far as i can see, my only concern is the battery life. It’ll probably last around 4-6 hours if you play a game/movie since it has to run the UMD disc. It lasts a lot longer if you just play music.

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