What can I do with a Sony PSP?

Dave, I received my Sony PSP about 6 months ago and I don't know how to do anything with it besides play games that I buy. I have like a memory card thing for it but I dont know what to use it for. I've heard that u can get the Internet on your PSP and dowlonad movies and music and pictures, but how?

Dave's Answer:

This is a great question because it really highlights one of the challenges that Sony has marketing and positioning the Playstation Portable (aka PSP). On the one hand it's a competitor to the Nintendo Gameboy Advance so it's just a device that lets you play games.

On the other hand, it's one of the most sophisticated consumer electronics gadgets on the market, allowing you to:

Buy DVD-quality movies that you can watch on the PSP (in the PSP "UMD" format, they're about $12-19 at Wal-Mart, Target, and similar),
Download your favorite music onto the PSP in MP3 format and take a few CDs on the road with you,
Download a photo album or three and share your family, hobbies, or just about anything else you can get into JPEG format, all on the crystal clear screen,
Surf the web with the PSP's built-in wireless networking capabilities and cool Web browser. Better yet, the browser's free if you upgrade to the latest version of the firmware.

Having said all of this (is this officially an advert for Sony yet? :-) I have to say that it's not obvious how to do any of these tasks, which is why I've been writing how-to tutorials for quite a while now, helping people out. Here are a selection of the most popular:

There are more PSP articles on this site too, articles that can help you with even more problems. Remember, when you're having PSP problems, come here for Sony PSP Help.

Hope that helps clarify some of the many splendid capabilities of the Sony PSP device!

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Categorized: Video Game Tips and Help , iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help (Article 4284, Written by Dave Taylor)
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Reader Comments To Date: 74

Jerid Hill said, on November 18, 2005 6:09 PM:

Although this is a great idea, the cost of the memory sticks aren't real great for this. If you continuously reuse your memory stick to put new movies on and delete old movies, that's one thing, but to have a single movie per 512 memory will probably be at least 3 times as expensive than buying a UMD movie.

Dave Taylor said, on November 18, 2005 6:42 PM:

Agreed, Jerid. I think the lack of an external hard disk is a major liability for the Sony PSP and know that's why it's not mentioned when publications like the Wall Street Journal talk about handheld video players...

HENRY said, on December 1, 2005 6:16 PM:

ay i dont have a psp yet. i really want one. i jus thank you for all this good info man. peace

Brad Salters said, on December 3, 2005 4:16 AM:

How far will a 1GB memory stick go? Is it worth paying the 95$ to get 2GB? Also is there going to be be a better battery available later?

Ashley said, on December 7, 2005 12:15 AM:

Hey
I am getting a psp for Christmas. What is this about the memory stick, How many DVD's can you download on a single memory stick?

Dave Taylor said, on December 7, 2005 7:33 AM:

Ah, Ashley, that answer would be basically zero. A DVD has 8GB of data, typically, and you can compress it down quite a bit, but I have a 512MB memory stick and it barely holds one low quality movie. Please see my articles on PSP video and you'll understand.

Nick said, on January 26, 2006 3:34 PM:

i have a ? about how u put mpeg's clips that r about 20sec long each. how do u put them in the PSP? and how much room does it have to put mpeg's? and two more ? does the PSP when u buy it come with the usb cable? what kind of file formats can u put in the PSP for games.

waynepayne said, on January 27, 2006 6:05 PM:

Dave i first want to thank you for all the great info. i am no techie by any means and your info.is very clear. my question is that i have a PSP vs. 2.0. i have downloaded some music in a mp4 format and i need to know if i can play that on my PSP? it doesnt show up in my Music file when i follow the steps you gave for downloading mp3. any advise?

Dave Taylor said, on January 27, 2006 11:40 PM:

As far as I know, Wayne, no, the PSP cannot play MP4 audio files.

joe said, on January 31, 2006 2:54 PM:

i tried to get aim on my psp but it said i needed a updated internet so i tried doing that but it didnt work recently i found a website called www.aimfiles.com and they have older aim files like the first one i was wondering if i could download one on my psp...would it work...is it safe...will anything happen that i dont want to happen to my psp...??? thanks dave

Dave Taylor said, on January 31, 2006 2:57 PM:

AIM is PC software and your PSP is not a PC. It won't work, regardless of what version you install.

joe said, on February 1, 2006 5:05 PM:

I was wondering if there is any way to message anyone like instant messager from your psp...i know this sounds stupid but im not a computer wiz ummmmmm do u kno where a wireless router would say what company its from or a # i can call to reach them?

Dave Taylor said, on February 1, 2006 11:12 PM:

So far, I havent' seen any sort of IM solution for the PSP, but I imagine it's just a matter of time. But why IM someone when you can be playing GTA:Liberty Cities, or Ridge Racer? :-)

Tom said, on February 11, 2006 4:33 PM:

Hi Dave, I want to get a PSP for my wife, she'll be 61 next month. She only plays card and strategy games, and Mah Jong and she wears out the Palm Pilot playing games on it. She doesn't want any shootem up games, or any type of action games. So can I get games like the type that she likes for the PSP? If not, I'll have to find another birthday present for her.

Dave Taylor said, on February 11, 2006 11:03 PM:

Sorry to say, Tom, that the PSP probably isn't the best option for you given what you seek. You might look into an ultralight PC laptop instead, and if you could afford a Tablet PC (about $1000) then it'd be an amazingly good gaming platform for your wife, but it's lots of $$

hands said, on March 9, 2006 9:51 AM:

This is so confusing i still don't know how to put photos onto the psp, when i download it, it is on the computer psp file but not on the psp

Vic said, on April 30, 2006 9:56 AM:

Hey Dave,

Grrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaaatttt letter, man. keep up the good work. i have a question for you though, what the heck is an emulator and how do I download it to play PSPrhythm? This is the drum machine downloan from hacks.com

jason said, on May 17, 2006 2:36 PM:

hey dave i was wanting no how many games the psp comes with and how many movies it comes with. also is it true that u can get blue psp's

bryce hill said, on June 2, 2006 9:10 AM:

how do put videos on your psp? and is possiable to do that?

Dave Taylor said, on June 2, 2006 9:17 AM:

Jason, the PSP typically doesn't come with any games or videos: you have to buy them separately. I don't know about colored PSPs, all the ones I've seen in the North American market, at least, are black.

Bryce, you can definitely put videos onto your PSP, I do it all the time!

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/about_psp_video.html

paul said, on August 29, 2006 10:19 PM:

my psp will not come on the red light is on but it will not work

Serial said, on September 23, 2006 4:53 AM:

Dave you mentioned to ashley about one low quality movie on a 512 mb memory stick well, you can also remove things from the dvd itself such as subtitles, other languages, and even different sound qualities such as 5.1 Dolby, or whatever, so this all will help reduce the size of the DVD. DVD Shrink does this or even try VOB blanker i forget which program.

Chelsii said, on November 21, 2006 4:53 AM:

heyy,
IM ALSO GETTING A PSP FOR CHRISTMAS; IDK WHAT KIND IS BETTER; I ALSO HERD U CAN DOWNLOAD AIM ON IT; IVE LOOKED EVERYWHERE N I CANT FIND A WEBSITE TO DO SO; I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A GOOD PSP NOT A LOW W/E ITS CALLED I WANT ONE OF THE BEST;
IF U CAN HELP ME THAT WOULD BE GREAT = ]
THX

happy toe said, on November 29, 2006 8:30 PM:

how can you download games on your psp?

Cameron said, on November 29, 2006 9:27 PM:

Alright, I have a 4 gig memory stick for my psp and I have 5 full movies, and 50 songs with a half of a gig left (500MB). So I recommend the 4 gig, esspically when things like gps and video cameras are coming out for them. And for aim/msn/yahoo messanger there is a site out now it is called
http://www.ebuddy.com/mobile/
you can log onto aim, msn, or yahoo messenger it is really neat.

MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR PSP UP TO DATE!!!

There are some really cool things that you can do, like I just figured out a way to stream music/videos to my psp without taking up any space on my memory stick, with the RSS Channel icon that comes with the new update. PSPVideo9 is what I use to change the format of the videos I download to the format that psp reads, you can change the quality of the video so you can fit more on your psp, or have dvd quality videos but just not as many (Really nice program). Anyways, if any of you have questions on any of these things feel free to post them here and I'll see if I can get you a quick answer.

Cam

James said, on December 11, 2006 9:50 AM:

you can use AIM without downloading at http://www.aimonpsp.com

andrew price said, on December 26, 2006 12:54 AM:

I would like to know how to put music videos on my psp.I down loaded a couple videos from itunes,and tried to covert them on the "psp max media".It says it cant convert(unsupported encoding)song name.m4v .can u help

patrick said, on February 12, 2007 8:01 AM:

how can i put yahoo messenger on PSP? please help me.... hit me in email... its xpatrickx23@yahoo.com.. i'll wait for your replies......

Anthony Guzman said, on February 18, 2007 2:07 PM:

Yo u mad cool. I got a psp

dj said, on February 26, 2007 8:35 PM:

what can you do without a psp memory card

*> [J]ack... said, on March 11, 2007 5:44 PM:

Hey

Has downloaded the " universal remote" for PSP?

Does it actualy work?

jimbob said, on March 19, 2007 12:05 PM:

i want to know how to put games on my psp becuase i have downloaded some but im running out of ideas lol reply to jameshalford_409@hotmail.com

Aaron said, on April 1, 2007 12:12 PM:

By the way, the info here is great.

I have a question though....the PSP browser has the ability to display Cyrillic characters, however, I am interested in know where I can obtain a cyrillic "keyboard" for the PSP that would allow me to type in it.

vanessa said, on April 25, 2007 1:24 PM:

hi im srry i just got my psp and i saw your coment about upgrading and getting a free browser how do you do that and dnes that mean im suposed to pay for the one i have now

Swampy said, on May 10, 2007 1:10 AM:

Hey, just a heads up, I bought a psp a few months ago, but I work at staples, and I usally get memory sticks on sale for about 15 Dollars for a 1gb. I don't get discounts either, so I would say look for good deals people, they are out there, I usally can get a 2gb for about 25-30 dollars if you catch them just right, just a heads up if you guys are looking for a tight budget memory card..gotta keep your eye out though. Also, the internet is a great place to find cheap pro duo memory too, just gotta look guys. XD

tj said, on May 13, 2007 10:31 PM:

is it possible to stream music or movie from a network harddrive in your network?
if you can connect thru wifi internet , then you should also be able to connect to shared network location right????

i would like to know this before buying one.

eric said, on June 9, 2007 4:51 PM:

i just upgraded my psp to a 3.50 from a 2.71 but no am confused. i dont know what extra things i can do or can download etc. plz help

saskia said, on July 31, 2007 11:39 AM:

im getting a psp for my birthday in a months time and i want to no how to get interet

thnx

benji said, on August 7, 2007 5:16 PM:

psp is doing my head in! How do you get to download on it and what are the best programs-are they free to down load and how do you use web on it?
benjamin_hartley@msn.com

phatty phat said, on August 29, 2007 2:16 PM:

you guys have to get a usb cable. no it doesnt come with it. first you will go to the settings on your psp and format your memory card, then you will hook up your psp to your computer (note the usb cable is a mini usb to regular usb and can be found at your local electronics shop) Now go to the setting on your psp and find where it says usb connection and click on it. Your pc should make a weird sound and tell you that it has found a new removable media device. If you have gotten this far, I have good news! the hard part is over. Goto my computer and find your psp. Double click. Now you are ready to put files on psp. For photos (depending on which firmware you have) go into the folder marked psp and click on the photo folder. Once there you can just drag and drop your photos. to test to see if you have done it right just pick up your psp and scroll over to photos and they should be there. Its the same with music just make sure that it is in mp3 format (sony does not support mp4 for music).For videos it gets a little tricky. You will need to convert your video into mp4 format (this is necessary for them to work). Thats not as hard as it seems, all you will need is a program (audio encoder) that will do it for you and they are very abundant and self explanatory. I recommend typing into a major search engine the words "wma to mp4" and then just choose whichever. Usually the audio encoder will ask you where your psp is and put the video on there for you but if it does'nt, once the videos have been converted you will need to place them into the file named "100MNV01" in MP_ROOT folder on your psp. Well I hope this has helped someone. You know what they say if i can help just one person...............

phatty phat said, on August 29, 2007 2:45 PM:

Oh and by the way the psp only has wifi internet (wifi means that you have to be in a hotspot like if you have a wireless router at home that you use for a laptop or your at a well known coffee joint) and it is very slow. there is a button on the left hand side of the psp,(the icons look like two little ufo's) make sure that it is switched in the up position. Now you will need to go to network and scroll down to internet. Once you click on it you will be asked to enter an address. Put in your favorite addy and click enter, at this point it will make you set up a new connection, go through the list and set up the connection (if you are at home or at a coffee shop chances are you will need the passwords to get into the router)

jeremy said, on September 30, 2007 7:51 AM:

i do home skoolin and my works easy i always have alot of spare time do u know any sites i can get movies or games for my psp free

natalie said, on December 18, 2007 10:36 PM:

hey dave i hope u read these emails because i'm getting a psp, well sort of, i don't know if i should get an nintendo ds or a psp. i wanna ask u if u go on the internet on the psp can u go on msn like can u talk 2 people on msn and also can u get different colours like pink or blue or green besides black?

i hope u answer and if u don't then i not sure what i will be able 2 do with it so i might as well get an nintendo ds

zack said, on December 19, 2007 5:46 PM:

Normally i just get money for christmas alot so i may get at the store

Gary said, on December 25, 2007 6:21 PM:

i have a question but does the memory stick and the usb cable come with the psp?

jack ass said, on December 31, 2007 2:25 AM:

whats a PSP. and it a car or a motor cycle with big wheels

Jamie said, on January 17, 2008 6:23 AM:

I am having a problem with the original psp. The last time I turned it on the screen had a flash and then I was unable to do anything on it. When I try to restart it, the green light flashes for a second and then nothing. Is this thing broken now or is possible a bad battery? Tried charging it, but that doesn't work either. Just need to know if I need to replace it or something on it. Thanks.

malmedia said, on January 27, 2008 5:19 PM:

Now you can also do Flash like at http://www.psponme.com and soon you will be able to make free calls with Skype.

jhon said, on February 15, 2008 9:54 PM:

how do i download ipsp to my psp from windows internet explore.i got the new slim psp

peter said, on March 22, 2008 7:53 PM:

hey i want to know how to watch movies on my internet if i go to youtube i can see the pics but not the movie so what do i do.

sooky said, on March 23, 2008 10:42 PM:

how cani be connected to the internet with my psp sony?

Luis Angel said, on April 23, 2008 7:12 PM:

that i have a psp but the problem is that it dosent want to read games why

evelyn preston said, on July 6, 2008 3:33 PM:

Dave how do you put game that you have on your computer on your psp?

Momna said, on August 12, 2008 4:01 PM:

Dave, I have a PSP and like 2 use it for internet, but I can never go on any website except google, or music-buying websites. I want to be able to go on youtube, but the videos never open when I try. It always says:

"Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player."

Now I have turned JavaScript on and have gotten the latest flash player several times, but youtube still won't work. What should I do???? Please help me!!!

James said, on October 23, 2008 9:55 AM:

How do i get the net working on my psp if the wireless internet ip wont fit in

felicia said, on December 29, 2008 7:58 PM:

can i play psp games on my ps3 or can i play me ps3 games from my psps

Michael said, on February 26, 2009 10:42 AM:

I ahve a PSP and i have a 8GB memory stick. It cost me about $20-30. Right now im trying to figure out a way to watch music videos on my psp. Just trying to do whatever i can with it. Want to watch movies, play games, go on the internet, listen to music, watch music videos.

Alex said, on March 13, 2009 3:27 PM:

Digital tuner for the psp
/
like the sticks that we connect to our laptops

paul said, on March 27, 2009 5:33 PM:

hi dave first of thank you for your time and help. i have a psp and i have some movies that are all ready on my pc and i want to put a few on my psp. when i move them and i go to play them the psp says there not the right format but they are avi format and the psp says it will play avi. I dont know if im just missing some thing not doing it right or the psp needs something please help
thank you,
Paul

Dankaaial said, on May 29, 2009 10:03 AM:

hey dave i got 1963 mb on memory stick and yes i want to download a game for free so any web for it ty

moesha said, on July 29, 2009 9:17 AM:

i want to be able to use aim on my psp how do u do that???? is it possible??? if it is can i get ur help???

Michelle said, on August 12, 2009 10:33 PM:

Dave, I bought my daughter a used PSP from someone off of craigslist.com and two days after playing it a quarter of the screen when blank and you can only see the other three quarters of the screen. The more you play it the more of the screen goes away. When you turn if off for a few days it partially comes back. Is there anything we can do to fix it. Thanks. Michelle

jackson said, on September 5, 2009 2:12 PM:

whenever try to go on the internet it was say that the communication with the server failed. A DNS error has occurred(80410410)

Rohit said, on January 11, 2010 2:50 AM:

What is the memory of psp and how many games are there? what is the cost of psp?

chad said, on February 12, 2010 1:38 PM:

wondering about if i should throw away my psp i need to know how to put games on my memory card please reply at this same website

Glenn Fenech said, on March 5, 2010 9:42 AM:

Got a problem with my PSP. I put the F1 UMD in and all is fine with the menu selection and all. Selecting the game is fine as well. Then as soon as you start the game after a brief time the screen starts to fade away till it goes completely blank. It happens with GT as well.What I noticed is that just the screen goes blank and if im correct it freezes otherwise the sound seems to keep going. It does not happen on my other PSP. the other thing I tried was another game and was fine. You think you can help? I tried upgrade but all is ok

Manveer Singh said, on June 17, 2010 10:31 AM:

hey my psp searches wireless but it is unsupported can u help me

xavier said, on June 18, 2010 5:05 PM:

my sons playstation netrwork account was banned for improper name how do i get this account unbanned i tried to contact sony through thier 1800 number but got auotmatied responce menu which was no help tried to contact tec but was unable to get into contact.

Dre said, on June 30, 2010 8:15 PM:

i am online from my psp now. in order to do so, u need to be near an area with wifi connection. try to find one with no security unless you know the wep code. also for aim on psp, go to www.aimonpsp.com. hope i helped some. email me if you have any questions. andremthompson@hotmail.com

Steve said, on May 11, 2011 12:34 PM:

Hi have just upgraded my psp from the first version to the 3003 but my memory stick with my games on wont register any idea's????

abe said, on June 8, 2011 3:13 AM:

hey dave,between psp 3006 and psp go,which one is the best?

Dave Taylor said, on June 20, 2011 12:19 AM:

Abe, this is a big question, I moved it to its own blog post: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/what_to_buy_sony_psp_3000_3006_or_psp_go.html
Hope it's helpful!

emmanuel said, on June 23, 2011 4:22 AM:

please dave how do i get to make my psp play ps3 games and also configure the psp for internet

desmond said, on March 1, 2012 4:11 PM:

what is the best kind of psp? dont say ps vita

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!

What can I do with a Sony PSP?

Reader Comments To Date: 74

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

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