Ceramic White PSP.
 

Yeah, so these look amazing sexy to me.
I've been considering buying one in time for GTA: Liberty City, and I noticed that these are out in Japan, and about 30$ more.

See, I don't really care about the 30$ difference, the only thing is that it won't play American UMD Movies. It'll play games region free, but only Japanese UMD Movies.

So heres a few questions for you, mighty TFP gamers:
1) Is there any way to modify it to play region free UMD Movies? Similar to how you'd add a mod chip to a console?
2) Is the White PSP coming out in America any time soon? Like, before the big XMAS season?
3) Unrelated, but does Gamefly and/or Netflix rent UMD movies, or do they plan to in the future?
4) If I can't get an American PSP in white, are there any companies that I can send a black one for them to paint it?

THANKS, TFP GAMERS!

1) As of right now, and to the best of my knowledge, no, there is nothing to break the UMD region encoding on the PSP. However just as I was typing this I realized that there is an Action Replay out for the PSP, and in the past Action Replays have been known to assist in breaking region lockouts.
2) Maybe. I heard that the white PSP might be coming to the US, but I can say with confidence it won't be before X-Mas.
3) I know GameFly rents out UMD games and movies. Well worth it :)
4) There aren't any companies that paint PSPs, but I know there is a company/group that makes and replaces the front faceplate, which does break your Sony warranty. I've gotta find the name, but they have pretty professional looking stuff.

Hope that helps!

THANKS. I didn't think anybody was actually going to answer this.

So I was figuring out that I don't need to play UMD movies. I can just put movies that are on my laptop onto the PSP's memory stick, right?

Another thing: Is the PSP's OS set up so I can change the language to english? And is it compatible with American computers? Specifically Macintosh?

Actually, I bought a PSP (black - although I did have the option for white but said no. If I want an iPod/Apple knock off, I'll buy a Creative Zen Player, or even better just buy the actual thing. Black is the colour of Sony) in HK recently and I can tell you that;

1. Yeah you can put movies on. But it's a bitch to do (because for decent quality you need to convert them and it's annoying). Also Sony decided to further their brand making it so you can only use Duo memory sticks which are expensive and can only go up to one gig.

2. And yeah, the firs thing you do is set the language.

Well, I'm content with the answer to the more important questions, the language.

So yeah, I saw that it's 20$ less if you were to buy it in Japan. There it's about 230$, why is it 250$ in the states? I mean, they're all manufactured in China, right? Why's there a price difference?
But nobody knows, it's not really important. It's just puzzling.

I recently saw a 2GB memory stick at my local Gamestop - or at least I thought I did, perhaps I was hallucinating. Also, I'll be going to HK in December and was curious, are things (such as PSPs and other electronics) significantly cheaper there, or is that all rumors and lies that I've been told?

there are 2 gig memorey sticks out now, and there is a rumor of this 4 Gig memory stick/battery duo that goes in the battery slot coming out on October 20th. Sounds kind of cool.

Pragma - you're not hallucinating. ;)

If you want a 1 GB stick, avoid the brick-and-mortar stores as they're charging $129+ USD for them. I just checked Amazon.com and they want a mere $75 for a 1 gig stick (plus S&H). Froogle is helpful as well.

If you want to put movies on it, they've gotta be converted to .MP4 movie files. If you have XP, use PSP Video9 to convert most media over to .MP4.

Sadistik - I think they're cheaper in Japan right now since the PSP has been out closer to a year now, while here in the Americas it's been out for only ~7 months. (Perhaps a price drop before X-Mas?).

Oh, and one last thing, if you pick up an import PSP, the primary select button is the O button, not the X button. I never could figure out why that is with PSX/2/P products...

Oh wow. I that release was different, and that it would effect price. DOH, it was so obvious.

Again, thanks for all the help TFP-ers.

Well, we still haven't got the while slimline PS2, so I don't see us getting the white PSP either...

Except for the fact it's already out. Google is your friend :).

Okay, so here's a little update.

I had been looking ALOT of places for a good deal. EBAY, of course, but I got outbid in several auctions.
The average prices online is 279-300 bucks.
Well, I found it for 269, which is the absolute cheapest price I've found it without resorting to EBAY/Sell.com classifieds. Here's the company's link in case you too are trying to buy one:
audiocubes.com

I ordered it the 18th, and it's supposed to come sometime next week, I cant wait!!!

I've yet to see it in stores, or advertised

Edit: After searching google and EBgames.com, I was unable to find any reference to a North American release of the white PS2.

So, it came today!

It's GORGEOUS. I'll post up some pics later tonight.

And it works so WELL. And I found a Mac program called iPSP so I can put Music and Movies on it easily. Um, what else can I say? No dead pixels, very crisp screen, and it's more ergonomic than i thought.

I haven't gotten any games, but like I said in the other thread, I've reserved GTA: Liberty City Stories, and I can't wait!

Very cool - I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures of it. Be sure to review GTA: Liberty City Stories, as that'd definitely be a must-buy for the PSP, should I get one.

Hell yes I'm gonna review it.

Speaking of which, here's my review for the PSP itself:
Pros:
-Crisp Screen
-Great UI
-Easy to put Music and Photos on to the Memory Stick, just drag and drop.
-Built in speakers, that I forgot it had, are fantastic.
-Easy to figure out web browser
-Lovely case and leather strap

Cons:
-File structure that's too complicated for it's own good
-Standard memory stick is too small for anything
-Doesn't come with USB cord, so I had to dig up my Digicam one
-Confusing SLEEP-POWER-HOLD switch
-Opaque buttons different than it's black older brother
-You have to select "USB Transfer" everytime you want to transfer something, similar to the iPod's "DO NOT DISCONNECT" mode.
-Smudges on screen
-Isn't as loud as iPod with headphones
-Really crappy but stylish headphones.
-Okay looking remote, functional

Wow, that was long. There's my review. Q&A session? Ask away.

If you really wanna hold music and movies pick up the 1GB memory stick, which can be found for as little as $72... but once again we all just missed out on the PSP GigaPack - as the name suggests it's a package that comes with the 1GB memory card. linky

As for the smudges on screen, there's not much you can do besides constantly baby it with your cleaning cloth (like I do...) but I've heard of some people applying car wax to the screen, which helps it keep its shine alot longer. It's a specific wax that works best on the screen, I'll have to look it up...

Giga pack...
http://www.pspupdates.qj.net/GIGA_Pack_02_20051020.jpghttp://www.pspupdates.qj.net/GIGA_Pack_01_20051020.jpg

Yeah, I'm totally gonna get a 1gb card for xmas.

And, eerrrrgh, i looks like the white psp is comming to america after all.

iPOD anyone? now white and black...good going sony (and apple on that black note) on your originality. seriously...why not red or yellow...FUN COLORS!@

The "Ferrari Red" PSP? Hell, they could even get Ferrari to stamp a badge on it, like they do with the Acer laptops.

Well I think that since the PSP is being marketed more towards the college kids and up crowd, Sony's trying to keep away from the "kiddy" colors of the Game Boy.

Besides, I'd much rather break out my sleek, black PSP, than a cutesy watermelon pink one ;)

Yeah, plus, black and white go with everything.
Not like silver. Ugh, i hate silver electronics with a passion greater than that of the christ.

Other colors? I think they just look tacky.

Where did you hear that it's coming out in America?

My friend in work has a white one. At first I preffered it, but on closer inspection, I like my black one better. The white one doesn't seem as well put together.

shame that colorwarepc.com doesn't do them... because they would look hot... the color video ipods look incredible as do the nanos