PSP vs PSPgo: WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU GET?

As a massive fan of the PSP, not a day goes by without people asking me questions about this incredible portable.

A lot of people are curious about the OG PSP design (be it the 1000, 2000 or 3000, those last two having by and large changed relatively little from the original 2004 hardware), and the PSPgo, the more drastic redesign Sony introduced in 2009.

I love both, but I personally prefer the PSPgo -- even if it's objectively the worse PSP out there. Lemme explain why!

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[TheIzzyNobreShow]

Thank you so much for watching! If you have any questions about the PSP at all, hit me up on Twitter!
www.twitter.com/mrnobre

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[BeaversHobby]

Years ago I got the PSP 3000. I soon installed a custom firmware and ever since then I rarely touch my GBA. With a micro SD to memorystick adapter I can fit my entire childhood in to one device.
I also use it for watching movies and listening to music while travelling. Hands down the best portable I've ever had.
Also, hello from Greece.

[EckhartsLadder]

Where's the best place to get a PSP in Canada? Kijiji?

[blakecolonna]

My psp is from my grandma who died and therefor it is very special to me and I will never get rid of it

[hyungwoo]

Greetings from South Korea!

As an owner of a PSP-1000, I flashed CFW on it just a few days ago. Since then I have done quite a bit of work on it. I got a MicroSD to Memory Stick Duo adapter and upgraded the storage from 2GB to 128GB, dumped and backed up my entire UMD library, and had my original battery's cell replaced. Also ordered a PSP-2000 from eBay for as insurance should mine no longer function and for curiosity's sake since it was cheaper than buying a modern AAA game :)

I'd give the edge to the original PSP design over the PSP go. I like that Sony gave it a screen with 3000's improvements without the scanlines, added Bluetooth, and added usable internal storage. However, I don't think the extreme forward-thinking decision to go download-only was the smart decision to make in terms of sales. But then, the 3000 was still sold, so maybe Sony wasn't serious about selling lots of PSP go units. Other than lacking UMD support, the proprietary connection/charging port over the PSP's Mini-USB and barrel port also prevents me from seriously considering the go.

[WildCard_M-Page]

I love it when YouTubers are able to admit their bias to one option without letting it affect their recommendation towards others! It's not something you see a lot of on YouTube these days, good job!

[Myndale]

Good review. I spent 16 years as a professional game developer, and PSP was by far the most interesting system I ever developed on. No question in my mind that something went horribly wrong during chip fabrication, and that one or more things that were originally supposed to work on it didn't, resulting in the crippling main bus bottleneck. What we got left with was a system with some really unusual technical constraints that required major refactoring of conventional graphics engine code. UMD issues just rubbed salt into the wound. That said, I'll always have a soft spot for that particular piece of kit.

[VonKrauzer]

Damn, I remember when PSP was the talk of the town, the biggest thing and second to none. Now it's retro console. Godamit, I'm old...

[FSXNOOB]

Hacked PSP/Vita is the king of porable gaming :)

[remakeyourself]

I absolutely LOVE my PSP Go, and I bought ALL the accessories for it - multiple memory cards, TWO of the official docks, even the official Sony Component Cables and an awesome hard leather flip-case made by Sony. I played with my PSP-1000 for a year or so, modded it, played some games, and then bought the PSP Go right around the time Playstation Plus launched (Summer 2009, I think) and LOADED that sucker with games. PSP Minis (indie games), PS1 Classics, and a TON of PSP games. I love the PSP Go so much.
I was watching a video a couple months back about the best PSP games and decided to break it back out to play some games. I charged it, booted it up, and went into the store and then (as you mentioned) I realized that my entire library of games, probably over $1, 000 of titles at least (lots of JRPGs that never went on sale) are no longer available to access without breaking out my PS3 and syncing up that way. Luckily I still have most of my favorite games like Jeanne D'arc. all the PS1 Square games, and my beloved Powerstone collection, but there's so much I can no longer get on my PSP, and as a consumer who went all-in with Sony's digital-only push in an attempt to support that model, I just felt absolutely betrayed.
At this point, there's nothing else to do other than mod it and steal all the games I originally purchased, and that really makes me reserved about giving Sony money for future digital titles.
That being said, I stopped dabbling with emulation on my PSP-1000 when I got the PSP Go, and have been on a big GBA kick recently. Seeing this video got me pumped to boot it back up and see how much the scene has changed. I was always a little underwhelmed with the PSP emulation scene, while there was a ton of great stuff out there, the performance always felt just a little less than perfect...a decade later I bet things are smooth sailing so perhaps that'll be a fun project for this week to get it all back up and running. I'll research the PSP Go a bit more and if I find it shouldn't be too easy to accidentally brick, I might just mod that sucker as well.

[Nvdgaarden]

I wish this video came out 2 months ago, when I bought a PSP Go because the screen on my old 2000 had some waterdamage. It sums up all the pro’s and cons perfectly, great job!

The Go is beautiful and very portable, but the battery is pretty weird like you said. Can’t really tell how much juice it has left. Might eventually even go and find myself another 2000.

Greetings from the Netherlands!

[rexo]

Two months ago I bought a psp go in white and I absolutely love this retro console ❤️

[RyouKaguraTV]

The regular PSP is better for me. Mainly because that’s what me and my brother used until the memory stick failed and the battery got fried.

I did use my friend’s PSPGo for a while, but the smaller screen didn’t do it for me.

Hello from the Philippines

[BackloggedGames]

PSP-2000 or 3000 hands are great. AND they can use the TV to component cables! I love my PSPgo but you can not deny the value you get from the PSP 2000/3000 models. Awesome video, thanks!

[crispinnnn]

Always watch your vid when it involves the psp!

[joshwrather]

I’d truthfully say the psp go is my favorite device I never had, I did finally find one for cheap though it’ll be here tomorrow. But the psp is the way to go I loved mine it was literally the coolest system I’ve owned in my opinion

[ishan]

Thanks a ton for the help Izzy! I’ve been struggling with which one to use, since I have both, but now that I know I can charge via usb, it makes the decision a lot easier

[alexandreberthault]

I own both and I think these two handled are complementary. For example, I still use my PSP Slim to play my UMD games (even if I dumped some ones on my memory stick through an homebrew), whereas I prefer using my PSP Go to play games on an emulator (its internal storage is pretty useful to stock all my ROMS and some options too, like the "pause mode" - I don't know how you say that in English, I'm French - that enables to leave your game and continue it later, without having to reload the emulator and your ROM in two times). Furthermore, it's so fun to play some games when you "close" the console (when your screen is over your buttons) - I think about Locoroco that is playable with L/R buttons and some GBA games (the process is simple: you active the option L=A in Pokémon for example, and you pass the dialogues by pressing L with your console closed). By the way, I probably seem such a weirdo lol

[Mrgrenades]

I've had my psp go for quite a few years but only recently started modding and putting emulators and games on it as well. I have to say it is amazing having such a small portable device capable of playing almost all of the classics on. Although I am looking into getting a normal psp just to compare the two. But all in all I would highly recommend the psp go.

[TylerMBuller]

I look at it the same way I did back when the psp go came out. The original 3 psp models are better because they have more features and are more user accessible. Like being able to change the battery or use physical media. Also I find them more comfortable to hold. The only thing those models lack is the bluetooth but thats not really that huge of a deal. Point is the models before the go had more features. It's a no brainer for anyone debating about what model to get imo. I'd say the psp 2000 is the best because the 3000 screen looked off to some people but either one is a good choice regardless compared to the go. If you could care less about physical media I'd say get the go. Psp is great in general although now your better off getting a vita if you can get one on the right firmware because it's definitely a superior platform with cfw.