PSP or N810 for me?
 

hi. im 12 years old and im living in richmond, bc, canada (where there's not a lot of wifi). im wondering if i should get a Star Ocean: Eternal Legends limited edition PSP Slim & Lite now or save up $363.33 to get a n810... any tips?

EDIT: my mom already has an iphone, which im allowed to use and everything

thanks

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

well, honestly, i think that you whould go with the n810 because for the iphone that your mother has, i think that it has not as much functionality yet, unless it is jail broken.
but for the psp, if you want to play games more, definitively that, for sure
but the n810 can be useful at school if you have wifi there, from experience i know this. but if not, then get the psp for sure

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

What are you looking for in a mobile gadget? Web, IM, chat, games? What you get all depends on your interests. Don't let someone make a decision based on their interests...you might regret it.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

My little brother is 12, he has an n800 and he loves it, he likes that it can make video calls and likes to watch movies on it. The speakers on the n810/n800 are much louder then the psp making it a good media player. I guess it all depends on how much of a gamer you are, or if your into internet browsing and viewing and listening to media.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

There are a few cool games for the tablets and more in development, but its real attraction in that area may be the fact that you can download flash games to it and take them with you. For instance, I have Dicewars on mine. My 13 year old and 15 year old have N800s and we plan to start loading them up with Flash games too.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Well, remember that if you like lots of 3d eye candy, go w/ the psp because it plays modern commercial games. The PSP is really only good for media playback, gaming, and VERY simple webbrowsing.

This will probably hurt my reputation, but for relating sakes I am 15 and I can never see myself with a PSP because it costs too much for it and media/games, it is proprietary, it's input method is very gaming centeric, and I got an eee pc for mobile quake 3 based gaming... lol

The n810 I believe is not good for someone of our ages because of price. I am broke and I barely have 90 dollars saved up. Unless you need a GPS, hardware keyboard, and most importantly a transreflective screen to view the screen easily in the sunlight get a n800. The biggest deciding factor for me will be price, and storage prices and sizes. Don't spend too much money on the current IT's there is bound to be ones with better hardware i.e. hardware 3d acceleration, a more useful DSP that can put out higher res than half res doubled, more onboard storage or the double sd again. Either way Nokia is behind on the hardware, just look at the LimePC due out later this year and the MIDs. I understand neither is a direct competitor but still, Nokia needs to polish up the electronic hardware somemore.

I think i'll prolly get a n800 as i stated earlier

sorry about my rants... I have a tendency to do that.

BTW see if you can try one out for a feel b4 u buy, because it might help you decide... i wish there was a store near by that has them on demo.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

if you like games, definitely PSP (Tekken, Wipeout, God of War, etc), and you can also use hacks (http://www.psp-hacks.com/)

N800/N810 games are not anywhere close to PSP...

I mean the two are different systems, like apples and oranges, you need to pick which one suits you best.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Yeah, it's a shame there's been no true commercial game development for the tablets. A real missed opportunity IMO...

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

So, uh, Texrat, how's the OpenGL on that new tablet you were talking about? :D

OMAP3: Pandora -> N900 = win win win!

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

I'm in Vancouver so I'm pretty close to you.

1. Why do you want an N810? Unless you want that GPS ability, I think you'll be extremely happy with an N800 (at $230 at TigerDirect instead of $420 for the N810). *And* you can buy cheap memory cards and swap them into the N800 (which you can't do with the N810). If you don't like tapping on the screen, then a $40 bluetooth portable keyboard works well (bumping up the final price to $270). I got the portable keyboard and, frankly, I find that tapping out web addresses and some passwords or short notes isn't a big a problem as I thought it would be and my keyboard is usually closed and sitting in its pouch.

2. I'm with Telus for my intenet and have a separate wireless router (which was *much* better than the Seimans gateway Telus first sent me. My present set-up, a Thompson SmartTouch modem and Linksys WRT54GL router, is waaay better).

I can access my N800 from down the hallway of my apartment building. So if you have wireless at home, you should be fine if your wireless gateway or router is decent.

I had to spend a few days attending a training session at the hotel across the street from the Richmond Hospital two weeks ago and I got free WiFi access from somewhere in the area (that wasn't part of the hotel's set up even though I was in the hotel when I was on it). I've also been dragged to a few Richmond malls and I was impressed by how many of them have free WiFi, too.

Finally, as long as you find a Blenz coffeeshop, you have free Wifi (although sometimes you do have to ask for the key code to enter onto your N800). I think Starbucks is going to go free WiFi soon, too. The Vancouver Public Library has free internet access so I wouldn't be surprised if the Richmond Public Library also has it.

Since I'm so incredibly old, I have no idea if public schools have free WiFi since the last time I went to school was last century.

So, even in Richmond, there's probably a lot of common places you can get WiFi.

Can you get it everywhere? Nope - unless your parents are willing to pay quite a lot of money per month for a cellphone plan just for your portable internet connection. Then again, I can honestly say I've seen very few people actually have cellphone internet capabilities in Vancouver. I've seen business people with Blackberries... but that's not the same thing as a PSP or N800/N810 (and those people are most probably getting the bills paid by their company).

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

well that was only, what, 9 years ago....

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Commercial games tends to need a few things more other than just a capable gfx subsystem..
- Sizeable userbase
- Some sort of DRM or copy protection mechanism (which would be broken within hours of public release anyway)
- Brand recognition of the 'mothership' (Sony, Nintendo, MS, etc) to lessen their PR efforts

There are already quite a few gaming systems that failed to achieve commercial success missing (some or all) of the above points:
- Gp2x
- Zodiac
- Wonderswan
- N-Gage??

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

There are no really commercial developments of any sort. I was going to ask about that in another thread. Do you think that the 'open source' of the tablets actually prevents commercial efforts, that owners of NITs would be against commercial software, and what that means for the future of the platform?


As to the OP, it seems a rather simple question. The PSP and N810 aren't even similar. Do you want to play games or not. If so, get the PSP, if not get the N810.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

I have both, (and an iPhone for that matter), I suggest you go with a PSP slim. :) Make sure you hack it though.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

The N8X0 and the PSP (vanilla unhacked version) couldn't be any more different. I was once an avid PSP hacker, but once I bought my NIT, I stopped even looking at my PSP. The real greatness of the PSP lies in what can be done outside of what Sony dictates (same thing applies with the iphone/apple). Take a look at http://pspupdates.qj.net/ to get an idea of just how many homebrew apps/games/etc are available once you throw on custom firmware.

I ran:
VNC
Connected my psp to a usb GPS with homebrew mapping software
Media streamers before sony built them into the official firmware
Language learning homebrew software
etc...


On the other hand, the N8X0's are simply great out of the box. The amount of great apps available far surpasses anything that's on the PSP. Not to mention, installing & configuring apps for the NITs also could teach you some valuable lessons about linux (if you aren't already using it now). Hacking a psp will teach you about hacking a psp.

just my 0.02

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

what they said....

Mom's iPhone is likely jail broken since this is Canuckistan where wireless is still mysterious and the jesusPhone isn't officially sold. Data plans are not practical for tethering unless you like spending thousands of dollars to check your email. WiFI->copper->internet == great value even here.

If I had that choice when I was 12 I would have gone with the N8 without much thought but my needs are different than a gamer.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

just a note, i have a psp phat (black), but spilled soup on it, so it freezes in the XMB

and my moms iphone is jailbroken, and i have apollo on it,but i hate the keyboard still.

i want to play games, but they are not as important. i rather have IM and internet... does the n810 have any GTA styled games in dev (payback, e.g.)? Do you think apex designs will be willing to port payback to the n810?

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

You got two things going on here. Kinda contradictory.

If GTA style games matter at all to you, then get yourself the PSP. If games are not as important like you said in the first sentence, then get yourself the N810.

It's really that simple.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

The 800 does have a transflective screen; it's extremely clear in sunlight and generally one of the best screens I have ever seen. The spec is easily available online and this feature is usually mentioned in reviews, if you need to confirm it.

Hardware that has been released generally will be "behind" hardware that hasn't been released yet. It's the nature of the beast, even before allowing for delayed launches, poor launch usability, vapourware and over-claiming. There definitely are things Nokia could do to spice up successors, but the existing hardware is actually damn good. Improved UI and marketing would be my priority.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

I'm sure you meant 810, not 800. But for the record, the N800 does not have a transflective screen and has poor daylight visibility; anti-glare screen protectors are said to dramatically help. The N810 does indeed have a transflective screen.Indeed. The general consensus seems to be that we have quite decent hardware, but that Nokia doesn't know a thing about and/or isn't willing to put any effort towards software.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

i think you answered your question...
i recently bought n810. and its great fun...
in my opinion you WANT n810 but you also need a games console. well here is my answer:

BUY n810, you can find some games on it, not as good quality as psp or as entertaining but! you are going to get bored of games, you will need more and more and new ones, you will need to spend EXTRA MONEY, and u will reach and go past the price of n810 when you add few games to your psp. now as you are still in school it will be much more useful to have your internet tablet cause you have access to internet, you can write some stuff in a realy simple word processor...

as to playing games....
well why buy a psp for games? save money for ps3. its great and its mayb not portable but as long as you dont travel ALL THE TIME you will play games at home most of the time and whenever you are out, im sure n810 is enaugh to kill boredom. i think that if you need something for IM etc. buy 810, if you want something for games buy another device that will be good for its job, i dont think you will be happy with either if you want both functions on one device if you know what i mean. one is better at some things than another.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Or wait for Pandora.. come to think of it, it does sound like a bastard son of NIT & PSP.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Indeed it does. :D

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

actually i might save up for the n900? is there any more info one that? the iphone like thing? hows the web browsing gonna be on that?

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

a couple more questions:

1) are there any good flight sims (e.g. flight gear) or ones that will work with the future ubuntu for n8x0?

2) is it possible to port the GP2X payback to the n810, because from what i understand, the gp2x and n810 both have ARM processors, the n810 is more powerful, and you can map some of the [million] keys on the n810 to be the ones the gp2x uses. is there a alternatives for the gp2x's shoulder buttons? any intrest in porting it? anyone can tell me how?

btw, i use ubuntu and windows, but ubuntu is usually just for the things i need that i don't want to pay for (yes, im really cheap. i have $653.80 CDN saved up for either another iphone (for myself, and myself only), and n810, psp, or htc touch.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

The N8x0s have neither accelerated OpenGL nor the horsepower to push a flight sim (nor the proper controls, really).

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

kk thx. how about payback?

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Where did you find a N810 in Vancouver for that price?...
NCIX is $435.23 before taxes and shipping, and even places that won't ship to Canada (amazon.com: $418.99USD and newegg:$399.99) are more expensive than that.

Re: PSP or N810 for me?
 

Vapour -

I have a PSP - the old fat one - and I love it. I have the custom firmware, but even without it I'd love it. I like a lot of PSP games, like the new Patapon, Loco Roco, God of War, Puzzle Quest, the Final Fantasy remakes, and some of the compilation discs are great - like Capcom's classics. Oh - and everyone should play Crush. Just to experience it. A lot of games are now budget titles as well - it's a good time to get on board.

There's also internet radio, a great sounding mp3 player, and terrific quality video. I rip DVDs fairly regularly using Xilisoft and watch them on the PSP. As for the web browser - you'd be better off poking some string through a cup and holding it up against the internet. It's slow, it always runs out of memory and often doesn't function right. I understand it's a bit better on the slim - but still falls short.

If you have $360ish to spend, why not get the N800 instead of the N810 - and get a PSP slim as well? The slim has been quite successful, so it's likely that there'll be more games down the line for the PSP. The Playstation store is also offering up some cool games for not much money like a rhythm game called Beats, the trippy Flow and Echochrome.

If you enjoy tinkering and programming more than gaming, then I'd say go for the N800/N810 over the PSP. But think about going a bit cheaper for the N800 and adding the PSP slim. It's the best of both worlds. As for PSP vs. PS3 - I feel handheld gaming is a much different head space than the traditional experience of playing a console on your TV. It's more personal. You can relax on the couch, turn out the lights and put on the headphones and just disappear into the game for a while.

Keep in mind, I've purchased but don't yet have my N800. Maybe when I get it I'll insist that nobody anywhere ever needs anything else. But I doubt my PSP is going anywhere anytime soon...not until I play Final Fantasy Crisis Core anyway...