Let The Game Begin!!

It's sleek, it's shiny, it's got that wow factor and it has all the elements any great gadget has. Slightly bigger than you might expect from a device (6.7in x 2.9in) that you're expected to put in your pocket, the PSP oozes appeal all over.

The front is dominated by the large clear 4.3in, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD 480 x 272 pixel screen with controlling buttons to either side and along the bottom edge. PlayStation players will be familiar with the gaming buttons available as they replicate the standard PS2 controller.Along the bottom is a range of operational buttons such as a home key, volume and screen brightness as well as Start and Select buttons. Strangely rather than a dial, the brightness button offers four different settings and in our tests this didn't always offer us the choice we wanted.
Games and movies will come on Sony's new format (yes another one) called Universal Media Disk (UMD) and are a cross between a miniature CD and a tape cassette. There are currently 30 titles available at launch in the UK including WipeOut Pure and Ridge Racer and these should set you back around £25 each.

For internet access, there's built-in wireless connectivity via IEEE 802.11b allowing you to get updates and extras.The Memory Stick Duo slot means that you can use the PSP as a picture viewer or MP3 player, better still, if you already own a Sony digital camera or camcorder, you can instantly view your images or footage straight from your camera on the bigger screen.

Storage is currently limited to a maximum of 2Gb (a limitation of Memory Stick Duo) so we're not talking about a major contender with the iPod Photo here, but it's still a useful option to have considering the size of the unit's screen.

As for the MP3 player aspect of it, transferring music to and from the device is via Sony's Connect software and as we have said in the past, we don't like it. That said it might just be the software package for you (if other open source alternatives are not sought by homebrew means) and the player will support MP3, MP4, WAV or ATRAC3plus file formats.