What is the best PSP model?

[Inazuma]

I'm interested in buying my first PSP but I have no idea which one is best. I think there is the original model, ver 2000 and ver 3000 but I could easily be mistaken. What are the differences, pros/cons, etc? Basically I just want the highest quality one to play legit games on. I am not interested in hacking it for emulation. Also, I plan on playing Japanese region games only, if that makes any difference in your recommendations. Thanks.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I always say the original 1000 series PSP's from launch were the greatest PSP units ever manufactured based on quality of build and feeling.

[dedalusdedalus]

i have a psp 3000, and later acquired a psp 1000 from craigslist (didn't need it, but it was too good a deal to pass up).

the only thing the psp 3000 has to recommend itself is the screen. it's a lot brighter and the colors seem a lot more vibrant than the 1000.

the 3000 supposedly also has better load times, but this difference might be marginal at best depending on the kind of games you play. i had two copies of "star ocean: first departure" at hand which i simultaneously booted on the 1000 and 3000, and the 3000 booted only slightly faster. but if you play a lot of games with long loading times, the difference might be more pronounced.

i happen to also like the feel of a psp 1000 in my hands. it's heavier and thicker than the 3000, but it just feels more ergonomic.

also--it's way easier to mod a 1000/2000 with custom firmware so you can play emulators and homebrew.

[dedalusdedalus]

oops, too much info. i glazed over the part where you said you didn't care about emulation...

[nate]

not certian but I think a PSP 1000 can't connect to a TV. the 2000 can display via component connection on a TV.

[HellHammer]

I've got two 1000 versions that I'd never let go. As others have said, there are nicer things about the newer ones, particularly the screen and ability to play on TVs, but I prefer the 'heavy' quality of the 1000.

[corn619]

2000 all day, even if you don't care about emulation. The 3000s screen has bothersome scanlines and the 1000 is thicker and heavier. You should really consider giving a 2000 the pandora treatment, it was the best thing I ever did with my PSP. The PSP emulators are pretty good these days. And its nice having 1000 games all in one unit.

[ac_90]

the differences between them are marginal in my opinion...i mean there's not really a good reason to pay more for the newer models. they're pretty much the same and the old one is easier to hack

then again, people like having new stuff...and the 3000's look better and have tv out and stuff so it depends what you wanna use it for

[Inazuma]

I do want the TV out. If the 1000 model doesn't do it, that's a deal breaker for me.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I do want the TV out. If the 1000 model doesn't do it, that's a deal breaker for me.

The TV is Standard Def or 480p and full screen on the menus and videos, but 480p only and windowboxed when running games to only display a picture that is 1/6 your screen size so frankly it's worthless.