Life’s been crazy lately, but I had some free time today to blog, so I thought I’d pass on some helpful PSP tips.

First of all, the PSP has a built in web browser, and at first I was a little underwhelmed by its performance. To be honest though, I was just looking at random pages that were obviously formatted with computer use in mind. That means there’s loads of stuff the PSP is trying to receive that you don’t really need. Luckily, most websites have versions of their websites formatted for mobile phones in mind. Using these with your PSP, you can load pages exponentially quicker. Some of the websites I really found useful are Google Reader, Gmail, and Yahoo. All of these have minimalistic formatting and information, and the Yahoo portal has all sorts of things to use like webmail, movie times, directions, news, and weather. I know this was intended for people with really nice smartphones, but I don’t have one of those. I have a game console; but it works just as well. Keep in mind, this doesn’t just apply to the PSP, but I imagine this will improve the performance on the DS web browser as well. This tip is obvious to most technophiles, but it really makes the PSP’s web browser actually useful.

Lately I’ve really been loving my PSP. The DS is kind of going through a release drought, and although there aren’t many good UMD games, I have still been using emulators and downloaded media quite a bit. One thing I soon realized, on a particularly noisy MARTA commute, is that the PSP doesn’t really output much volume. Even with the volume maxed, I still had trouble hearing the dialogue on a converted movie. Apparently I’m not deaf either, looking at some forum posts this is a popular complaint amongst PSP users. There are a few possible solutions. First, when converting movie files into the PSP format, you could use software to increase the volume. This of course doesn’t apply to MP3s unless you want to completely rencode them. Also the sound quality isn’t going to sound that great. Second, there is a possible hack that requires opening up your PSP and doing some prying and poking. This could break your PSP, so I took a pass. Finally, and this I consider the best option, get a headphone amplifier. Using a unique and simple design called a CMoy, you can build your own, or buy one made by someone else. I personally opted to get one off eBay built by an amateur. My amp looks like the one pictured. You can get one made for you for as little as $20, and the sound is so much better than the amp in the PSP. It’s not just for PSP’s either. A lot of people use dedicated headphone amplifiers with their iPods to get great sound out of them.

Anyway, that was a needlessly long post that will never be read by a PSP owner. Oh well, I just thought I’d pass these neat facts along.

With a most sincere puppy-dog-eyed apology, Microsoft announced yesterday that they are extending their manufacturer’s warranty of 1 year to 3 years. After constantly denying the mounting anecdotal evidence of system failures, it appears MS is finally admitting there is a problem and are providing a solution. While I personally, nor anyone I know has had an Xbox 360 die from the infamous, Red Ring of Death, it is apparent that it has become quite a problem.

I have to admit, I like what Microsoft is doing. Now I know they are a little late in doing so, they at least appear to be on the up-and-up in extending the warranty. So what are the details? Well, according to Major Nelson’s recent podcast on the subject, the normal 1-year warranty still applies, but for “general hardware failures” with the RROD, there is now a 3-year warranty. Also, if you have had your console repaired in the past for the RROD, Microsoft will cut you a reimbursement check. It is estimated that this will cost Microsoft around $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the policy change. Those are some deep pockets.

Press Release and FAQ