PSP - Hardware

Hardware

The PlayStation Portable uses the common "slab" or "candybar" form factor, measures approximately 17 × 7.3 × 2.2 cm (6.7 × 2.9 × 0.9 in), and weighs 280 g (9.88 oz). The front of the console is dominated by the system's 11 cm (4.3 in) LCD screen, which is capable of 480 × 272 pixel video playback with 16.77 million colors. Also on the front are the four PlayStation face buttons (, ), the directional pad, the analog 'nub', and several other buttons. In addition, the system includes two shoulder buttons and a USB 2.0 mini-B port on the top of the console and a WLAN switch and power cable input on the bottom. The back of the PSP features a read-only UMD drive for movies and games, and a reader compatible with Sony's Memory Stick Duo flash cards is located on the left of the system. Other features include an IrDA compatible infrared port and a two pin docking connector (discontinued in PSP-2000 and later series), built in stereo speakers and headphone port, and IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi for access to the Internet, ad-hoc multiplayer gaming, and data transfer.

The PSP uses one 333 MHz MIPS32 R4000-based CPU, a GPU with 2 MB onboard VRAM running at 166 MHz, and includes 32 MB main RAM and 4 MB embedded DRAM in total. The hardware was originally forced to run more slowly than it was capable of and most games ran at 222 MHz. However, with firmware update 3.50 on May 31, 2007, Sony removed this limit and allowed new games to run at a full 333 MHz.

The PSP includes an 1800 mAh battery (1200 mAh on the 2000 and 3000 models) that will provide about 4–6 hours of gameplay, 4–5 hours of video playback, or 8–11 hours of audio playback. Official accessories for the console include an AC adapter, car adapter, headset, headphones with remote control, extended-life 2200 mAh battery, battery charger, carrying case, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, and system pouch and wrist strap. The PSP is equipped with a two-pin docking connector immediately below the AC adaptor jack for easy drop-in charging using a docking station that was to be sold separately for the PSP-1000 series. However no such charging dock was ever released by Sony. The two-pin docking station charging contacts were removed from the PSP-2000 and later versions.