Source: informit.com
It’s solid. It’s heavy. It’s built to last.
Even so, your PSP is not a brick. You can easily turn it into one, however, by failing to treat it with care. It’s a little too big to be a paperweight, but it would make a fantastic doorstop, as you’d expect at its high price. If you want a doorstop, go to the hardware store and buy one. If you want your PSP to work as a PSP, treat it with respect.
Things that you use with your PSP also need a little bit of TLC. Those Memory Stick Duos are solid-state, nonvolatile masterworks of flash memory, but they’re still delicate. Your Universal Media Discs (UMDs), the sources of delightful movies and games, are valuable and vulnerable. Even the earphones and their little wired remote are subject to destruction, and not merely by vandals with scissors. (True story: A friend of mine works in an office under a draconian supervisor who hates MP3 players and the like. On occasions in which a worker doesn’t hear something important because of the earbuds in her ears, the boss will sneak up with a pair of scissors and snip the headphone wire. (I wonder how he would deal with a set of Bluetooth wireless headphones?)
Most Important: Don’t Break It
Because you own a PSP, you probably have several other electronic devices: a digital camera, an MP3 player, a notebook PC, a USB can opener, or what have you. You probably already know that such devices need to be treated with care. You don’t throw them. You try not to drop them. You don’t bury them. You don’t use them as bases in pickup games of Wiffle Ball.
Just as those thingies need extra-special care beyond the level of attention you’d bestow upon, say, a Garden Weasel, your PSP has its own issues with abuse. And if you break it through your own failure to respect its vulnerabilities, you’ll probably void the warranty, where-upon—lo and behold—there’s your attractive and expensive doorstop.
The Obligatory Lists of Dos and Don’ts
That’s right: Here come the lists! I think it’s more interesting and pleasing to the eye to present sexy, bulleted lists than boring, blocky paragraphs, so here we go.
Don’t:
… drop it. That seems like common sense, but I hope this advice will stay with you should you, say, get drunk and decide to impress your friends by juggling expensive stuff.
… get it wet. This isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. Most people who douse their electronics do so in ways they didn’t intend; obviously, they refrain from hurling a PSP into the Erie Canal, but they absently set a tasty energy drink on the coffee table, spill it, and discover their PSP in a sticky puddle on the table.
… keep the PSP in a moist environment. Humidity isn’t good for electronics, and condensation can form on the circuitry inside the PSP.
… leave the PSP in direct sunlight. That can damage the electronic components (aka the guts), shorten the life of the battery, and harm the Memory Stick Duo.
… abuse the UMD door. This door is one of the most fragile parts of the PSP, and if it breaks, there’s no good way to fix it except to have someone at an authorized repair shop fix it. That can be expensive.
… get crumbs or excessive amounts of dust on your PSP. Try not to play while eating or just after eating without washing your hands. Little particles can fall into the button switches and gum up the works.
Do:
… be gentle with the controls. Refrain from jamming the buttons with all your might and wrenching the analog controller for all you’re worth. The buttons have two states: down and up. When you’ve pressed a button far enough down for it to register, pressing it harder won’t offer any advantage—but will wear down the switch that the button activates.
… store your PSP in a dry area that’s above freezing but below 80 degrees F or so.
… charge the PSP battery on a regular basis. There’s no need to let it drain completely; it’s not a NiCad battery with memory issues.
NOTE
There’s even some evidence that allowing a lithium-ion battery to drain fully between charges is not good for the battery. You should charge your PSP daily or every other day.
… clean the PSP on a regular basis (see “Keep Your PSP Clean” later in this chapter).
… avoid static. Don’t keep your PSP on a carpeted floor or in front of a tube-type television set. Static electricity can fry components.
… turn off the PSP when you’re not using it. Don’t leave it on stand-by too long unless you have an unsaved game that you simply have to put down. Turning it off refreshes the memory and clears the various caches, which is good.
… use the wrist strap that came with the PSP. That way, you’re less likely to drop it.
Them’s the basics. The PSP is a portable device, of course, as its very moniker says. That opens a whole new area of care, so I’ll give it its own section.
Safe Traveling with Your PSP
There, that’s better. Whether you want to take your PSP for a walk to the park or around the world in a hot-air balloon, all Jules Verne–like, you need to take some precautions to ensure its safe arrival at your destination.
Instead of assaulting you with another list of dos and don’ts, I’m simply going to give you suggestions—very strong suggestions—in a friendly bulleted-list format. Here it is:
- Use the pouch! Your PSP came with a padded pouch for carrying it about. Whether you pack it in a suitcase or carry it in your pocket, put it in its pouch when you’re not using it. You can even roll up the PSP’s earphones and remote and then tuck them into the pouch too.
TIP
In fact, you can leave the PSP in its pouch while you are using it if you’re using its music function. With the wired remote, you don’t need the PSP in your hands to control the volume or the fast-forward/rewind functions, so flip the power switch into the hold position, put the PSP in the pouch, and tuck it away somewhere safe.
- Refrain from taking your PSP into hostile environments. By that, I don’t mean combat zones (although you should avoid them); I mean environments hostile to electronics. Keep the PSP away from beaches and pools, for example, as moisture, sand, and salt spray can have a negative impact on its functionality. Don’t play with it in the steam room. Don’t expose it to rain.
- If you pack it in a bag, be careful. Don’t allow it to be crushed beneath other stuff. If you have to pack a PSP in a suitcase, I suggest packing it between layers of soft clothing.
- If you carry it in your pocket, make sure that it won’t fall out. Also, if you carry it in a back pocket, don’t forget about it and sit on it.
- I suggest that you don’t play with a PSP over hard surfaces like pavement or ceramic tile, just in case you drop it. Play over grass, carpet, and such. Better still, play sitting down, so that if you do drop your PSP, it lands in your nice soft lap.
- Although you certainly can go jogging with a PSP, I suggest that you don’t. I know, I know—unlike some PDAs and MP3 players, it lacks a hard drive, using solid-state Memory Stick Duos instead. Because the PSP does have quite a few moving parts, however, I don’t recommend bouncing it around all that much. Besides, some studies show that a brisk, low-impact walk is actually better for your body than a jog. Just sayin’.
NOTE
Hard drives are especially vulnerable to jolts and shocks, such as those that a jogger foists upon his body and anything he’s carrying. Portable devices with internal hard drives don’t always do well when subjected to such abuse.
- Don’t forget the charger if you go on a trip. Leaving the battery stone dead for a long time isn’t good. Get a carrying bag in which you can keep the PSP, headphones, charger, and some UMDs, and make a habit of storing the charger in there when you’re not using it.
- This may seem like common sense, but don’t use your PSP during weddings, funerals, college lectures, and other places where you’re supposed to be paying attention. It’s rude.
- Turn off the WLAN switch when you’re not networked, either as part of an ad-hoc or an infrastructure network. You’ll extend battery life. Also, if by chance other people near you have PSPs and want to play via WLAN, your PSP won’t interfere.
Keep Your PSP Clean
One problem with the PSP is that its entire front panel is very smooth and very shiny. You may notice that whenever you touch it while you’re not wearing surgical gloves, you leave visible fingerprints.
If you are anything like me, that annoys the holy heck out of you. I hate stuff on my display screens: a computer CRT, a laptop LCD, a television set, or a PSP. Dust, smudges, and crusty stuff deposited by my children’s fingers make me insane. The first thing I learned to do to a PSP was clean it. Everything else had to wait.
When the screen was nice and clean and polished, I proceeded to play games. To this day, I clean that thing almost every time I pick it up. One speck of dust can ruin the entire experience for me.
Yeah, I know. I need help.
Clean the Screen
I’ve tried all kinds of things on the screen, including diluted rubbing alcohol, diluted Windex, and distilled water. Most of that stuff left smudges. I tried polishing the screen with facial tissues (not the kind with lotion, of course), soft cloths, scraps of cotton T-shirts, and other stuff.
NOTE
Although tiny amounts of distilled water don’t harm electronics, never, ever subject your PSP to tap water.
After all that experimenting, I tried something novel. I used the same stuff I use to clean my glasses: a gentle, oil-removing lens cleaner, which comes with a microfiber cloth perfect for polishing sensitive materials. It worked far better than anything else I tried.
Thus, to clean the screen, I recommend jumping into the car or onto the bike, heading over to the optical section of your favorite superstore or to an eyeglass shop, and purchasing a glasses-cleaning kit. I’m serious. Make sure that the included cloth is microfiber. Ask the sales-person to be sure.
Then head on home and clean your PSP’s screen. Follow these steps:
- Use a tissue or soft cloth to wipe any dust and crumbs off the PSP surface.
- Spray a tiny amount of lens cleaner onto the PSP screen (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Squirt just a touch of lens cleaner onto the PSP screen.
- With the microfiber cloth, wipe in little circles all over the surface of the screen.Make sure that you wipe all the lens cleaning solution off the screen (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2 Wipe off all the lens cleaner when you finish cleaning.
- Polish the PSP screen with a dry part of the microfiber cloth, using moderate pressure and wiping in little circles (Figure 3.3).
Figure 3.3 Polish the screen with a dry part of the microfiber cloth.
- Check for any smudges by holding the PSP up so that you catch some glare off the screen (Figure 3.4).
Figure 3.4 Get some glare on the screen to check for smudges.
If it looks sparkly-clean, you’re done. If not, repeat steps 2 through 4.
Do You Need Screen Protectors?
I’ve likely read all the same PSP FAQs that you have. Not only have I lived with, played with, and worked with my PSP, but I’ve also made it a point to research the bejesus out of it. Part of that research included deciding whether to purchase and use screen protectors.
They’re available all over the Net and in brick-and-mortar stores. They come in packs, often bundled with cleaners and microfiber cloths. They’re thin little strips of some sort of polymer, perfectly clear, designed to adhere to your PSP’s faceplate right over the screen. They protect the screen from scratches, dust, smudges, and goo, and they’re disposable: If the screen protector gets mussed, you can peel it off, toss it, and slap on another one.
The issue is whether screen protectors are necessary or not. Some online personalities rabidly recommend them; others say they’re not worth your trouble. Here’s what I say:
The answer depends on you, the user. If you take really good care of your PSP, you don’t use it in nasty environments where it’s likely to come to harm, you clean your hands before you use it, your house is neat, you’re unlikely to toss a set of keys or a fishing knife atop the PSP, and you keep it in its soft pouch when you’re not using it, you probably can do without a screen protector.
If, however, you admittedly don’t take the best care of everything you own, you can’t keep a goldfish alive, you toss the PSP on your bed or couch when you’re not using it, you carry it in the same pocket as your loose change, and you don’t know where its soft pouch is, you probably should blow $5 to $10 on a set of screen protectors.
If you fall somewhere in between, you probably should err on the side of caution. Screen protectors won’t set you back too much, and they certainly can’t hurt.
Clean the Rest of the PSP
Although the screen can certainly get dirty, so can the rest of your PSP. Your fingers touch the buttons and controls, and the back of the unit, all the time. Sometimes, you’ll want to clean the nooks and crannies between the buttons, or you may want to clean the plastic casing on the rear of the unit.
To clean between the buttons, I suggest cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol (a 75 percent solution like you find in the drugstore will do nicely).
Simply splash a very small amount of rubbing alcohol onto the cottony end of a cotton swab, and go to town. Scrub between and around the buttons (Figure 3.5). When you’re done, flip the cotton swab and blot up any excess fluid with the dry end, or do the blotting with a fresh swab.
Figure 3.5 Scrub between the buttons with cotton swabs.
NOTE
When I said a small amount of rubbing alcohol, I meant just a tiny bit. Dampen the swab; don’t soak it. If you dip the swab directly into the rubbing alcohol, wring it out gently before you start cleaning.
You can clean the plastic casing with a spritz of all-purpose cleaner such as Windex and a soft, white cotton cloth. Be sure to spray the cleaner onto the cloth, not onto the PSP itself. Spray just a bit of cleaner onto the cloth, and gently scrub away any foreign substances, smudges, and other junk (Figure 3.6).
Figure 3.6 Be gentle when you scrub the rear of the unit.
TIP
An old cotton T-shirt or even a pair of tighty-whitey underwear works great as a cleaning cloth for the back of your PSP. If you choose to use an old article of clothing, however, please wash it first.
Care for PSP Media and Headphones
The PSP itself isn’t the only thing that needs a bit of tender love. The things that came with it also require your attention and thoughtfulness. A UMD, for example, has a gap in the plastic cartridge through which the surface of the disk itself is exposed. Memory Stick Duos are somewhat fragile little things.
You can respect both types of media in some common ways:
- Don’t leave them in direct sunlight or in areas of excessive heat. The disk inside the UMD cartridge can actually warp, and flash memory can become damaged.
- Don’t get them wet. If you get moisture inside a UMD, forget about it. It will take days to dry, and it will be smudged unless the source of that moisture is absolutely pure and evaporates without residue.
- Don’t touch the exposed stuff. That means the contacts of the Memory Stick Duo and the internal disk in the UMD (Figure 3.7). Fingerprints can cause big problems with reading both kinds of media.
Figure 3.7 The gap in the UMD’s protective cover and the exposed contacts of the Memory Stick Duo are possible trouble spots.
NOTE
Some UMD cleaners on the market claim to be able to remove smudges from a UMD. I’ve tried a few and never had good luck with them. The best way to deal with a smudged UMD is not to let your UMDs get smudged.
TIP
If a UMD gets smudged despite your best efforts, the best way to clean it is with a dry cotton swab. Rub the swab from the inside of the circle outward and back (Figure 3.8), and use the spindle at the center to rotate the internal diskg.
Figure 3.8 Try your best to rub away smudges on a UMD with a clean, dry cotton swab.
- Keep’em in their cases. When they’re not in the PSP, keep UMDs in their packaging and Memory Stick Duos in the tiny plastic cases that they’re shipped in.
- Don’t leave them lying around. Keep them in a safe place, preferably in an area that’s dry and not subject to extreme temperatures.
Finally, your PSP’s headset deserves a bit of regard. Although it’s fairly tolerant of high and low temperatures, remember that there’s a bit of circuitry inside the remote, so don’t get it wet or let it bake in a hot car. Also, be careful of the wires: Inside the rubber casing is a set of metal wires that can snap, causing poor connection or no connection at all. Don’t allow the wires to twist or tangle, and if they do, gently set them right. Never tug on the wires, and never lift your PSP by the wires.
Having said all this, I must also add here by saying that xbox is stimulating kids to go for the next game released by tempting them with “gamer points” system. So people are buying games, thinking they are great. But the truth is that these games can be considered as second rate and games of the moment. This game will be forgotten as soon as the gamer points are earned and the next new game is launched in the market. 
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