Sony’s PSP console underwent several revisions during its lifespan, with the PSP-1000 being the initial model that released in 2004 and the PSP-2000 – also known as the PSP Slim – making a number of improvements to the original handheld in 2007.
Let’s take a look at the console’s history and what sets the two hardware versions apart – what differences can you expect when you check out the PSP-1000 vs the PSP-2000?
When did the PSP 1000 release?
Launched in late 2004 in Japan – and worldwide in 2005 – the PSP-1000 is the first hardware version of Sony’s console.
The PSP-2000 was the first revision of the hardware and arrived in 2007.
Hardware Design
Though broadly similar in looks, the first two versions of the PSP do nonetheless have their differences.
One of the main changes in terms of the hardware’s physical design is that the PSP-2000 is a slimmer and lighter model than the original PSP-1000 – in fact, the PSP-2000 was actually marketed in the EU as the ‘PSP Slim’.
More obviously, the speakers are on the bottom half of the PSP-1000 console and on the top half if you have a PSP-2000.
PSP 1000 & PSP 2000 Features
Here’s where things really step up a notch; the PSP-2000 has some great new or improved features that make it a worthwhile choice over its predecessor.
Along with a brighter screen, there’s also double the internal memory (going from the PSP-1000’s 32MB to 64MB) – which improves loading times from UMD and improved the performance of the console’s web browser.
The d-pad was raised slightly and the buttons were also made more responsive, so from a gameplay point of view the PSP-2000 does slightly have an advantage over the PSP-1000.
However, the best addition to the PSP-2000’s oeuvre – in my opinion – is the addition of the video-out – allowing you to play the console on the TV or a monitor.
PSP-1000 & PSP-2000 Battery Life
USB charging was introduced as a feature on the PSP-2000 and, though the capacity of the battery was lowered from the PSP-1000’s 1800mAh to 1200mAh – in order to accommodate the slimmer size of the console – battery life was roughly the same, due to power being used more efficiently on the revised console.
PSP-1000 & PSP-2000 Cost
These days, the cost of a PSP console is often more dependent on its condition than anything else. Many are offered for sale untested or without a working battery, in which case you can likely pick them up for as little as $25 – if not even less.
A fully working, boxed console can fetch around $150 though, especially if it also comes bundled with games, movies or other accessories.
PSP-1000 vs PSP-2000: Homebrew
As official support for the PSP ended many years ago, owners of the console will quite often hack their PSP in order to use homebrew software such as emulators on the machine.
Both the PSP-1000 and PSP-2000 are excellent machines for this, with relatively easy methods to get this underway.
Check out our list of the Best PSP Emulators for more information on this!
A Brief History of the PlayStation Portable
In a time before smartphones became the ubiquitous gaming device for many people on the move, handheld consoles were a significant sector of the video games market.
Since the late 80s and beyond, Nintendo had been absolutely dominant when it came to handhelds – with its Game Boy fighting off stiff competition from technically superior machines such as Atari’s Lynx, Sega’s Game Gear and NEC’s PC Engine GT (known as the TurboExpress in the US).
As time went on and the Game Boy evolved, it continued to hold its own against competitors, with Bandai’s WonderSwan and the NeoGeo Pocket both being unfortunately short-lived.
A few years into the 2000s though, Nintendo faced perhaps its toughest contender for the handheld throne yet: Sony.
Having overtaken Nintendo in the home space with their PlayStation consoles – leaving Nintendo’s N64 and GameCube unable to keep up with their enormous sales and popularity – Sony launched the PlayStation Portable in order to take on Nintendo’s odd-looking, slightly-dated feeling DS console.
Though Nintendo’s DS – through clever use of touchscreen technology, reliable storage media for its games, backwards compatibility with the Game Boy Advance and excellent battery life – would come to be the dominant force in handheld gaming for a number of years, the technically impressive PlayStation Portable certainly gave it a run for its money –
the PSP was a huge success, shifting more than 80 million units in its ten years on sale.
Sony’s PSP – as it was more commonly known – was a beautiful piece of hardware, both from a physical design perspective and from the viewpoint of its stunning technical capabilities upon its unveiling in 2004 (with release in late 2004 in Japan, followed by the rest of the world in 2005).
The PlayStation Portable used a proprietary media format for games and films: UMD, which stood for Universal Media Discs.
These were small, optical discs encased in what could be a somewhat delicate plastic shell if not treated carefully, but they allowed the console to have an impressive edge in terms of software scope, scale and presentation over competitors such as the Nintendo DS.
The fact that an impressive movie library was also built up over the course of the PSP’s lifespan was great too – and it was truly impressive to see movies running on the portable console’s screen in the pre-smartphone era.
Games such as Wipeout Pure, Gran Turismo PSP, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories made it feel as if you had a full size console in the palm of your hand, though perhaps the most satisfying and long-lasting experiences were those designed specifically for the console.
Titles such as Metal Gear Ac!d (a card game spin on Metal Gear’s famous brand of stealth action), rhythm action puzzling in Lumines and LocoRoco, with its vibrantly colourful, squishy rolling fun are all titles that immediately come to mind – but there were countless more in the PSP’s excellent and varied library of games.
So there’s a look at the PSP 1000 VS PSP 2000! Check out our very own list of the Best PSP Games for a look at the very best titles!
Jason – who lives in the UK – has had a lifelong interest in video games, which all started when he discovered Space Invaders in the early 80s. The first game he ever completed was Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Sega Master System – which remains one of his proudest gaming achievements. Jason is a passionate writer – and has been writing about gaming since the late 90s. He currently runs pop culture blog midlifegamergeek.com, which he updates on a daily basis (and has written more than 700 articles on the blog alone!).
Outside of video games, Jason is a keen tabletop gamer, film buff and comic book fan.
