My Own Digital Mini Theater... Review on Sony PSP

It was late afternoon, and I was still trapped at my office desk with loads of work still to attend to.  I had promised myself a rare treat … a movie.  The SRK version of Don was what I wanted to watch that evening, and I was getting late for the evening show.  By the time I could get away from my desk it was 7.30 in the evening and I had as good as missed the evening show…

Or, did I miss it?

I am a stickler for high quality visuals and music sans the distractions from the crowd.  I prefer watching the movie in peace and tranquility, and at my own pace.  I am too lazy to book tickets in advance; neither do I have the patience to stand at the f@g end of a serpentine queue to buy tickets.

Is there a theater that could give me peace and tranquility without sacrificing on quality, I wondered… one that would bow to my whims and fancies and play the movie when I am ready to watch it.  Yes, there was one… in my own sweet home!  No, I am not talking about my bulky home theater that I rarely use… even here I tend to get distracted what with my two darling daughters jumping about attempting a fusion between war dance and break dance, and trying out a Latino salsa and a Spanish tango at the same time which would ultimately end up as a freestyle Bharatanatyam. I needed a theater that catered to a one man audience… just me.  How about a portable device, I thought.

My 80GB Ipod has great sound and visuals.  But, the small screen is a big let down and honestly I can’t focus on the screen for more than 10 minutes at a time.  I prefer to use my Ipod as a MP3 player and in reality that’s what its basic function is.  Of course, I have a Sony PSP (Portable Play Station) which has a huge screen for a handheld device.  It measures a whopping 4.3 inches diagonally across and the screen rivals any of the latest state of the art LCD TVs in the market today.

The colours are brilliant and well saturated to give you that realistic feel.  Held at 20 inches away from you, the LCD screen looks as big as a 70 mm screen would from a distance of 250 feet and the image is so sharp that you can spot even the minutest of details.  The PSP is slightly big for a hand held and definitely won’t fit in your trouser pocket.  It is also slightly on the heavier side weighing a little more than a quarter kilogram.  But, it has a solid feel to it and the build quality is absolutely fantastic.

In common parlance, the Sony PSP is almost equal to Sony PlayStation2 in terms of performance but the form factor is different.  In the PSP you can watch movies only in the Mpeg4 format either through a proprietary UMD (Universal Media Disc) which is akin to a DVD but much smaller in size and housed in a special cartridge.  It can hold a whopping 1.8GB of data in the comparatively small disc, enough to pack in a high quality movie in the MPEG4 format.

All you have to do is plug in the wired remote ear phones into the PSP and you can feel the digital 3D surround immersive sound that will make you forget your Ipod or any other mp3 player for a while.  The PSP also has a slot for external memory storage and you can put in a Sony Memory Stick (4GB advisable) to watch your favourite videos, movies, or listen to mp3 songs.

So, there I was, relaxing in my couch and stretching my legs, I hit the play key and my mini home theater came to life.  I like to watch a film right from the credits onwards otherwise I get this feeling that I was shortchanged.  Pumping up the volume to theater sound, I got completely involved in the movie.  After two and half hours of gun running and a large packet of Lays ‘Onion and Cream flavoured’ chips and a half-litre bottle of Uncle Sam’s answer to thirst, I got up from my couch totally satisfied.  Yes, satisfied not with the movie but with the audio video performance of my mini home theater.  More importantly, I had all the controls to myself and I could watch the movie the way I liked including replaying certain scenes I liked.

I was in good mood so I flicked another key and I was transported to a most immersive game… Grand Theft Auto – Vice City Stories and I was lost in another world of high class gaming.  My PSP responded beautifully to the requirement of the game… be it the graphics, sound, or the controls.  I had a Nintendo GameBoy Advance SP and though it was also capable of playing excellent games it still was no match for Sony’s PSP.  Maybe, it’s harsh to compare a GameBoy with a PSP… they are worlds apart.

I could download a lot of freeware for PSP from the net in a trice and I could convert ordinary movies on CDs or DVDs into Mpeg4 format on my PC and then upload it to my PSP and lo… I could watch the movie at my own chosen place and convenience.

Though, the PSP has a lot of keys for playing games not many of them need to be operated for navigating through the files or watching a movie or listening to music.  In fact, I found it to be a perfect mate for my travels, and especially when I am out of town.  The model that I have is black and it’s an earlier version.  This has a spring-loaded bay for the UMD and is much heavier and has a solid feel about it.  The new version that has been launched is about 30 percent lighter and a little sleeker.  It doesn’t have the spring loaded mechanism and has a cheap plastic feel about it.  But, it looks as though Sony has addressed some minor problems which the earlier version had but at the cost of sturdiness.  When I held the new PSP in my hands I wasn’t too impressed with what I was holding.  I’ll stick to my older model.

The PSP has 2 external stereo speakers but honestly they are not up to scratch.  You can’t enjoy your mp3 songs or watch movies with these speakers in operation.  They are just good enough for playing games, that’s all.  But games sound even better when you plug in the wired remote ear phones.

To avoid the problem of continuously sticking up the phones into my ears I went ahead and bought a portable external speaker… the Logic3 Istation8 which comes with 8 mini speakers, one 4 inch woofer and a bass radiator.  It also has a docking station for my Ipod and connects to other audio devices.  It comes with a remote and also runs on 6 AA batteries so I can use this during my travels or picnics or any outdoor activities. All the speakers, woofer, and bass radiator are housed in a very compact, portable cabinet which is easy to carry. For a unit so small, the Logic3 packs an unbelievable punch.

The PSP is a technically advanced portable device which can be used to watch DVD quality movies as well as play high resolution immersive games.  It also has WiFi, and can be enjoyed in many ways.

It’s another late afternoon and I am once again stuck to my office desk  This time I am going to watch another movie but I needn’t worry about getting delayed or missing out on a few scenes… I have my very own personal mini theater that never tires of giving me the highs.

mbfarookh