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How do I download a movie onto my Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)?

I've signed up for a PlayStation Network account, using the helpful step by step directions you published yesterday (see: How to sign up for a PlayStation Network account for your PSP) and now I'm curious to learn how to download a movie or TV show. Can you show that too, please?


Dave's Answer:

I'm glad you've already signed up for a PlayStation Network account, and I sincerely hope that you did so by using your computer, not spending the hours it took to tediously enter each letter of each field of the lengthy signup form on your PlayStation Portable!

Now, first things first. Use the navigational system on the Sony PSP to find the PlayStation Network and choose "Sign In".

It'll reach out through the wifi network that you're connected to (and if you don't have a wifi network in range, you'll have to move elsewhere to find one!) and hopefully show this, after a short delay:

sony psp playstation network 8343.JPG

You're in. Good. Now choose "Video" along the very top:

sony psp playstation network 8344.JPG

Looks pretty similar, doesn't it? :-)

On the left choose "Movies" and we'll go one more step deeper:

sony psp playstation network 8345.JPG

You can explore the "Free Movie Extras" if you want:

sony psp playstation network 8346.JPG

But if you go there, you'll probably see that there's ridiculously little material in this particular section of the (admittedly new) PlayStation Network:

sony psp playstation network 8347.JPG

Ah well, back up and choose "New Arrivals" instead. Now, finally, some content:

sony psp playstation network 8348.JPG

Lots of cool movies are showing up here, but I noticed as I went down the list that they had a free preview of Terminator Salvation. Cool:

sony psp playstation network 8349.JPG

(actually, I reviewed Terminator Salvation on my Film Blog and didn't like it much, but that's another story. If you're interested, please go check it out!)

I choose "X" to select it and learn a bit more about the preview trailer:

sony psp playstation network 8350.JPG

I choose "Download" (since, heck, it's free!) and the download communication begins:

sony psp playstation network 8351.JPG

After a few seconds it's a more typical looking download screen:

sony psp playstation network 8352.JPG

Didn't take long, but it's worth pointing out that if 40MB = 3 minutes, that means that films are encoded for the PSP at about 13.3MB/minute. That means that the average 100 minute long movie is going to take a whopping 1330MB or approx 1.3GB. That's pretty big, you're going to want a BIG memory stick in your PSP if you're going to download films at all often!

sony psp playstation network 8353.JPG

Notice that there's no "watch this movie now" option. To get to the movie, you need to leave the PlayStation Network by pressing the small "home" button on the front left of the PSP device itself. You'll get a warning:

sony psp playstation network 8354.JPG

Are you suuuuuuurrrreee? Yes, we are. Press "X" and you're back at the regular navigational system:

sony psp playstation network 8355.JPG

Go to movies and check it out:

sony psp playstation network 8356.JPG

Sweet! There's the three minute trailer we just downloaded!

Choose it by pressing "X" again and...

sony psp playstation network 8357.JPG

You're watching a movie that you just downloaded from the PlayStation Network. Not too bad once you have everything set up and have the patience to navigate through their tiny online screens.


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Categorized: iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help   (Article 8926, Written by )
Tagged: movie downloads, sony playstation, sony playstation network, sony playstation portable, sony psp
Previous: How do I sign up for the Sony PlayStation Network on my PSP?
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Reader Comments To Date: 2

sherry said, on July 6, 2009 7:53 PM:

so you cannot do this connected to your computer with a usb cable it has to be done wifi only?

jennifer0147 said, on July 27, 2010 9:47 PM:

Thanks for the post, I was able to download a few movies before my trip!

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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