hey all i am fixing to buy a psp for my son and have a few questions..
i have modded many ps2 and xbox, but a little confused about the psp.
1.. with a brand new psp can i transfer games to the memory card that i download and my son play them
2.. are there a certian firmware i should try to get
thanks

1. Yes
2. You need a firmware of 2.71 or below. That way you can flash whatever firmware is best for your son to use (most likely it will be 2.71se).

That's about it.

But you must check wether or not you have a TA-082 motherboard.

Here you go.

Thanks guys.... so i need a psp with a firmware 2.71 correct? and how can i tell what motherboard i am getting without opening the box..
also with a brand new psp with say current firmware 2.80.. without messing with it at all, can i transfer games to memory card and my son play them or is that the purpose of flashing?
thanks again

I don't think there's any way you can tell which motherboard you got by looking at the box, but you can tell which firmware it is. It's something with a single letter on the barcode sticker.
Also, if you get a 2.8 or higher, you can't play licensed games, just homebrew.

You can tell which motherboard and firmware the PSP is (to some extent) by reading the label on the side of the box.
Where it says something like:
PSP-1003
220-240V
WS259 H
As jdm_ist has mentioned, it is the single letter that gives the most info (the "H" in this case); in general:
A to G: 1.50 to 2.01 (not TA-082)
H, I: 2.50 to 2.60 (could be TA-082)
J, K: 2.70 to 2.71 (almost certainly TA-082)
L and above: 2.81+ (definitely TA-082)

The part before that single letter can also give an indication of the motherboard:
WS259: probably not a TA-082
SS259: probably a TA-082

But none of this is completely guaranteed.

ok now i am really confused... ok if i get a new psp what do i have to do to be able to download games and play them... do i reflash? if so.. i know that you cant go backwards with the new firmware but you can use the eloader... sorry for the dumb questions just like to know what to get
thanks

Your top choices are either flashing your PSP with:
- Firmware 1.5 with DevHook
or
- Firmware 2.71SE

ok so to beable to play downloaded games i need o flash.... ok.... and i need to buy a psp with a firmware that is able to flashed correct.

Basically, yes.

so i need to find a psp with a flashable firmware... 271 is that flashable?
thanks

Yep, 1.5 and 2.71. Those are the magic numbers.

I thought 1.0 was flashable too? Im probably wrong, just seems like it is.

Oh yea, 1.0 is flashable, but all of the good stuff is made for 1.5 and 2.71.

1.00 can play homebrew and you can upgrade it to 1.50 so that would be fine as well.
I doubt you'll find any 1.00 firmware PSPs on sale now though.

The ideal PSP to buy would:
- have 2.71 firmware or below
- NOT have a TA-082 motherboard

ty this is crazy usefull xD kudos