Cool concept but could be soooo much more than it is

I'm not a particular fan of handheld games but I've been looking at this beast for awhile and from what I've seen there is a lot of potential in this little gadget. When it came out it was primarily pointed at the gamer and those that may want to watch movies on a portable device, there are now a lot more gadgets coming out for the psp that expands it further into a device capable of streaming TV and surfing the internet.

What it can do (out of the box):
Play games off UMD disk or memory stick
Play movies in mp4 format from either memory stick or UMD disk
connect wirelessly to other psp consoles for multiplayer games
Play mp3 music tracks from memory stick
display images in jpg, tiff, bmp, gif, png, formats (all very common most cameras product jpg images by default) off the memory stick
Surf the internet with an available wifi (wireless B) access point

What it can do with addons:
Stream tv with the addition of a gadget that hooks into your home video setup (I'm assuming you may be able to stream movies this way also)
Take pictures with camera add on
I've seen a GPS setup that just came out in Japan
A third party storage device using a notebook hard drive offers portable storage to offload files to the psp memory stick
Software is available to rip your own dvd movies into a format that will play on your psp (loads only on the memory stick at this time)
I'm sure there are many more either out or in the process of coming out, since the machine is much hotter in Japan all these new things come out there first and we get it last. There are dozens of websites that report news and new gadgets for the psp. Supposedly the PSP will also work with the new playstation 3 in some manner to download content and videos etc.

Just at first glance what I think Sony made mistakes with:
As with any system like this everyone has their backs up about security. Of course it doesn't matter that the hackers had already broken the security measures within two weeks of the sytem coming out........duh. In their quest for security Sony tried to make it impossible for folks to make their own mini cd's that will play on the psp, I really think this was a mistake on sony's part since these disks can hold a fair amount of info and are quite small, hopefully they'll reconsider this decision in a later firmware update.
Fat16 for a file system: Unless you're a computer geek you probably don't even know what this refers to. The PSP is basically a computer, it must have a file system for accessing files stored on a UMD or a memory stick. Your windows system is FAT32 or NTFS (windows can read and write to FAT16) the file system determines maximum storage space addressable so at this time the PSP is limited to 4 gigabytes, which is fine because the biggest memory stick you can buy at this time is 4 gigabytes.
The usb port is not able to address external storage (like a usb hard drive or memory stick) plugged into it (but someone has found a way to connect a hard drive that can upload content to the memory stick, this device is currently on the market).

What comes in the box:
The psp console
manual
1800 mah battery
ac adapter

If you bought the package with extras you get two games and there may be something else, like a small memory stick, but I just got the machine.

What else you need:
The PSP doesn't come with a memory stick, even a small one. To save games you must buy a memory stick. You need a Sony memory stick duo professional or third party equivalent, sandisk at least are also making memory sticks. Sony keeps the prices high on these for the amount of storage----same thing they did with the ps2 storage cards. You can get good prices online (check Dell especially they have the 4 gig stick for fairly cheap with rebates etc. right now).
To protect your investment a nice hard shelled case is a good idea, Logitech makes one that provides UMD and memory stick storage and pads your psp very well to protect it from shocks and falls. You may also want a couple of extended batteries (cheapest on ebay) and an external charger. If you want to play it in the car get a 12V adapter. There are a ton of toys available for this thing, just go looking on ebay or online, there are a ton of things to buy.

Setup:
There wasn't much setup, just put the battery in and plug it in and allow it to charge. You don't need to setup the wifi right away unless you want to. The unit I bought had an older firmware on it. You update firmware wirelessly (if there's a way to update firmware via cable I haven't seen that or taken time to figure that out, I think they assume most folks who will buy a psp will have access to a access point either at home or someplace). Install a sony memory stick pro duo or compatible memory stick of at least 256 size, the small ones aren't too expensive but a 4 gig stick will run you over a hundred dollars and this doesn't come with the unit (even a small one).

First use:
I chose a game for the first thing I played with. You put the umd in the drive (only goes in one way) and close the door. Flip the power switch up in the right corner and it pretty much selects the UMD by default and loads the game (although I think I've read the new firmware lets you make some settings about startup behaviour, I haven't played with that). When you're done playing just save your game from the menus for the game. If you don't save your game you will lose your progress.

What I think of this:
I really, really like this thing so far. The movies for psp apparently never really took off (they charge nearly as much for a psp movie as a regular dvd, I think folks are making their own and putting them on memory stick instead--not surprising). There are a lot of dungeon crawls and role playing games available for the PSP and there are also a couple of pinball simulations which are my second favorite kind of game. The screen is very visible for the size and the sound through headphones is great (external speakers are ok but not great, headphones are much better sounding). There are tons of addons you can buy for this thing giving it even more functionality. I think Sony made a mistake making it hard for people to make their own discs to play in it, of course it isn't impossible, you can supposedly burn these mini cds on a standard drive you just have to have a way around the security requirements on the PSP and the hackers have already achieved that.

Sony either didn't know about the new video ipod or wasn't considering competing with that device......shame, the psp could easily compete with the video ipod if they had just provided a way to easily connect a hard drive to the psp. There have been rumors going around the net for awhile that sony is considering releasing a psp with an internal hard drive. If they do release a psp with a hard disk I'm sure it will sell very well indeed, especially since we now have some really small hard drive technology that will not add too much size or weight to the psp (I just hope they make it easily replaceable since drives don't last forever).

Everyone I know that has one of these devices just loves it and has no complaints. You can easily play two players wirelessly with only one copy of a game and there is a widely posted hack (more of a work around than a hack) that lets you get four player games going with only one copy of the game. For the price of the console I think this is a great little machine. There are literally hundreds of third party products made for this from external speaker grips or power grips to cases to a gadget that lets you stream tv over it and lately a usb togo based external hard drive that lets you upload content to the internal memory stick through the usb port on the psp.

Most games are wifi "adhoc" mode enable which means you can only play with someone nearby (within range) but a very few are now able to play online (infrastructure enabled) with other people over the internet. Some games download additional levels etc when connected to the internet as well. Wow, I don't know of anything else this small that can offer all this functionality.

I just love this thing. Sony can make it better by relenting about letting folks make their own mini discs and changing the file system to allow larger addressable storage (it may not be the easiest upgrade but I believe they could do it if they wanted to). It's great that third party companies are making soooo many gadgets for this thing, practically anything you want to do you can find a gadget that does it. The only other area Sony fell down on for the psp was the ability to get output from the machine and display it on a tv or standard monitor, there are a couple of solutions that use mirrors but that doesn't offer really great quality, if they'd add this you could carry a bunch of movies around with you and hook it up to the tv at the party so everyone could watch it. Again, with only a couple of small things, that I believe they can fix pretty easily this is just an awesome device.

update: Had this thing for two months now still love it. You can buy extended batteries on ebay, however, the charging circuit in the machine will always think the extended batteries are low (may be the battery I'm thinking, there may be a chip in the battery missing from some oem versions of batteries for psp) and in order to update firmware (even with ac connected) it's necessary to switch back to the original battery for the update. It connects flawlessly to my N network (which also supports B and G). I've been taking advantage of trade ins at the local game stop, have only actually bought a couple of games brand new. I really enjoy this gadget, it's going to get a workout when I go out of town for a four day training it will be my relaxation when I'm out in the boondocks and can't play my regular online games.