PlayStation Portable

The original PlayStation Portable.

Released in March 2005, the PlayStation Portable (PSP) was Sony's first handheld console to compete with Nintendo's DS console. The console is the first to utilize a new proprietary optical storage medium known as Universal Media Disc (UMD), which can store both games and movies. It contains 32 MB of internal flash memory storage, expandable via Memory Stick PRO Duo cards. It has a similar control layout to the PS3 with its PlayStation logo button and its ('Triangle'), ('Circle/O'), ('Cross/X') and ('Square') buttons.

2000 and 3000 models

A PSP-2000 console

Main articles: PSP Slim and Lite and PSP-3000

Released in September 2007, the PSP Slim & Lite (also known as the PSP-2000) was the first major hardware revision of the PlayStation Portable. The Slim & Lite was 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the original PlayStation Portable. The capacity of the battery was also reduced by ⅓ but the run time remained the same as the previous model due to lower power consumption. Older model batteries will still work and they extend the amount of playing time. The PSP Slim & Lite has a new gloss finish. Its serial port was also modified in order to accommodate a new video-out feature (while rendering older PSP remote controls incompatible). On a PSP-2000, PSP games will only output to external monitors or TVs in progressive scan mode, so that televisions incapable of supporting progressive scan will not display PSP games; non-game video will output in either progressive or interlaced mode. USB charging was also made possible. Buttons are also reportedly more responsive on the Slim and Lite. In 2008, Sony released a second hardware revision called the PSP-3000 which included several features that were not present in the Slim & Lite, such as a built-in microphone and upgraded screen. As well as the ability to output PSP games in interlaced mode.