i am currently considering purchasing a Sony PSP and was wondering what the pros and cons of it are and whether its really worth the money, also i have a few questions that i would be grateful if someone could answer them.

when downgrading the firmware of the psp what happens if you do it wrong and you brick the psp....does it become useless or is it repairable?

also ive been looking on the internet and it seems to me that there arent many good games out on the psp....i was wondering is there any real point spending so much money with little games to choose from.

another point,which firmware is needed to run things such as homebrew and emulators??????.....and are all firmwares downgradable?

what are the benefits of downgrading and the newer updates what kind of features will you not be able to use on older firmware versions?

id be grateful if you could answer these questions as i would like more knowledge on the psp before parting with my money.

well first of all welcome to the site. now lets get to your questions
1. yes, it is more than worth your money if you buy a psp, why? psp is one of the best portable hand held gaming system up to date, you can play movies, listen to music, go to the internet, take pictures and play games.
2. once you brick your psp, that's it unless we go to modchipping and fiddling inside your psp that i have no clue and idea about opening and messing with your psp, so yeah to me once its bricked its bricked
3. okay there is alot of great games for psp, you need to tell us what youre into, racing, rpg, adventure, etc etc so we can suggest a couple of games that might interest you

okay whew! thats alot of questions i hope this helps

Once you have downgarded at the present moment in time you have two options:
Install devhook for 1.5 and emulate a higher firmware; so you can run a small application to go into the XBM of another firmware and also play ISO games taht require that firmware and get the features of the firmware your emulating.
---OR---
Install a custom firmware such as 3.02 OE-A which gives all the features of 3.02 but you get homebrew compatibility and enables you to load ISO's from the game folder. With 3.02 OE-A you can also download and play PSX games (from here). You can also play games which require 3.02 or below.

There are many games on the PSP and its game library is huge and ever expanded. Don't forget theres always PSX games you can play on there and homebrew games (all free from here)!

At the present time you can only downgrade from 2.8, and from what ive heard the 2.8 downgrader is not stable. 2.71 and below have stable and tested downgraders.

Also if you have any problems before or after you buy PM me.

yes all free and it takes a second to thank the contributors (uploaders) and a second to vote to this site to show our appreciation

if i went to buy a psp at this current moment what version of the firmware will i get?

Using the firmware 3.02 OE-A,is there any chance of bricking your psp this way?....how would i have to upgrade/downgrade it to this firmware..

thanks alot for the information you have provided me with,its much appreciated....i think i will definetly buy a psp now.

also ive been looking on the internet and there are rumours that the psp2 will be released this year,how realistic do you guys think this is?

Okay about the rumor, its just a rumor and an incorrect one at that. From what ive heard Sony are being expected to release detail in late 2007 which means that the release would not be until altleast 2008-09. However, there is another rumor of a re-designed PSP system, which is rumored to go on sale in late 2008.

Theres no real way of telling you at this present time, what firmware you will most likely get. However, it will be most likely 2.71 or above, some people now get getting 2.81. This all depends on how old the shops stock is, is it a mainstream retailer? Try to go to the smaller shops etc.

Or to be sure you're getting a downgradable PSP you could buy a second-hand one. Have a look on eBay and try to find one with 1.5 fireware at a reasonable price...

I was looking at buying one on eBay but I was lucky, someone at my work was selling theirs so I managed to get mine with a 2gb memory stick, GTA:LCS, Fifa '06 and NBA Street Showdown all for £70. So it's all about looking around and playing the game.

Yeh with psp 1.5 u can doany thing with it. without worrying if it brick........

My cousins got 2 psp's for christmas in the bundle and both were 2.6 fw. One of my friends got one a couple weeks back and it was running 2.71. These were new psp's by the way. Look at the letter by the serial code on the box. The lower the letter in the alphabet the lower the firmware should be on the psp inside.

I disagree that there are no good games on the psp. There are plenty.

Some of my favorite:
1. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
2. Syphon Filter
3. GTA
4. Need for Speed
5. Socom: FTB

Some others that a lot of people like.
1. Lumines
2. Loco Roco

Games coming out:
1. Final Fantasy: Crisis Core

Thats just a few, theres many more.

is downgrading from 2.8 unstable?


ive got a 2.71 firmware psp and in order to downgrade to 1.5 ive been told to update to 2.8 first......when i get the update of 2.8 do i jus simply copy the file and paste it onto my psp through a usb connection?

Did you buy a PSP yet...

do you know what emulators are?? they allow you to play other game system games on the PSP. so there is no way you can say there are no good games. as you can run all Game boy advance, super nes, some N64 games, and just about every system built prior to this such as sega genesis, nes, atari etc...

all firmwares are downgradeable currently inc 3.03

Using the 2.80 downgrader is easier as it works for all versions of PSP.
The improved 2.80 is almost as stable as the 2.71 downgrader (of which there are multiple versions).


Yes, you just copy the 2.80 EBOOT.PBP to your PSP memory card in the directory structure "ms:\PSP\GAME\UPDATE\".
Then run it via the Game section of the XMB.

I've outlined the 2.80 downgrading process here: http://www.psp-spot.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;#entry208480

Im sure the original creator has his answers. Thanks everyone.
*closed*