The Ultimate PSP Guide to PSP Hardware

01
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Sony's Portable PSP Hardware

PSP-1000, PSP-2000, Xperia Play and PSPgo
PSP-1000, PSP-2000, Xperia Play and PSPgo.

 Lifewire

Sony produced five PSP models: PSP-1000, PSP-2000, PSP-3000, PSP-Go N1000 and PSP-E1000. In addition, Sony Ericsson released Xperia Play, a PlayStation-certified smartphone that looks and feels like a PSP. The PSP line was discontinued in October 2011, but many of the handsets remain available online. The successor to the PSP line—the PS Vita—was introduced in December 2011. Each of the PSP models, the Xperia Play and the PS Vita are covered in this Guide. 

All PSP Models

02
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The PSP-1000 Guide

PSP-1000 hardware
PSP-1000 hardware.

 Sony

The original PSP may seem big and clunky now, but when it first came out it was sleek, powerful and...expensive. The PSP-1000 still has a lot of fans, especially among folks who want to create their own software known as homebrew or who use some of the cool add-on accessories that came out when excitement over the PSP was high, but which don't work with later models.

03
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The PSP-2000 Guide

PSP 2000
PSP 2000.

 Sony

The PSP-2000 isn't radically different from the PSP-1000, though it's thinner and lighter and a little more capable. Also, it can run Skype. Fans dubbed it "PSP Slim" in the Americas and "PSP Slim and Lite" in Europe, because it is easier to hang on to for longer play sessions. The best-added feature and the one that made it worth upgrading was the video-out ability, which let you play anything stored on your PSP on your TV. 

  • PSP-2000 Specifications. The raw list of what the PSP-2000 has, inside and out, plus what speculation on what the data really means once you have the device in your hands.
  • How to Play PSP Games on Your TV. The PSP-2000 added video-out capability and here's how to use it. This works with games as well as movies.
04
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The PSP-3000 Guide

PSP-3000 hardware
PSP-3000.

 Sony

The main upgrade for the PSP-3000 was a brighter screen, which earned it the name "PSP Bright." Some sharp-eyed gamers noticed scan lines on the screen with the earliest releases, leading many to opt to stick with the PSP-2000, but this was resolved with later releases of the model.

05
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The PSP Go (PSP-N1000) Guide

PSP Go
PSP Go.

Sony 

The PSP Go was an experiment, in a way. Sony seemed to be trying out some things, like removing the UMD drive and adding onboard memory. The form factor was considerably different from previous models, though the innards were comparable. Sadly the PSP Go flopped, though it has loyal fans.

06
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The PSP-E1000 Guide

PSP E1000
PSP E1000.

 Sony

Someone at Sony decided the world needed a budget PSP model, despite the gradual price drops the PSP-3000 was seeing. The PSP-E1000, a stripped-down model that retains the UMD drive but loses size, a speaker and Wi-Fi, was announced in 2011.

  • PSP-E1000 Specifications. Certain features were dropped or altered to create this budget PSP. Plus you can read the raw list of what the PSP-E1000 offers inside and out.
07
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The Xperia Play Guide

Xperia Play hardware
Xperia Play.

Sony Ericsson 

Technically, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is a "PlayStation-certified" smartphone and not a PSP at all. However, it can run PSP games so it earns a mention on this list.

08
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The PS Vita Guide

PS Vita hardware
PS Vita.

 Sony

The PS Vita replaced the PSP line. Sure, it's a bit bigger, but it's also considerably more powerful. The Vita uses a touch-screen interface and includes social networking features.

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