PUT MOVIES ON YOUR MEMORY STICK

This is probably the trickiest feature to use on the PSP, but it’s well worth it if you want a decent catalog of movies to watch while traveling. This also may be the only way you’ll get to watch some of your favorite films since it may take a while for movie studios to release them on UMD.

STEP ONE You absolutely need a higher-capacity memory card. The default 32MB stick is great for game saves but pretty worthless as far as other multimedia options go. The 512MB stick should work great for shorter movies (you might be able to squeeze in two), one long movie, or a series of TV episodes—whatever you want. If you want to get serious, go for the 1GB memory stick, which easily lets you store about three full-length movies. Unfortunately, high-volume sticks are quite pricey (even the SanDisk-branded versions, though they’re much cheaper than Sony’s memory sticks), so you’ll have to invest a good chunk of change.

STEP TWO Ripping and encoding movies gets a bit tricky if you’re not already familiar with the process, so we’ll just give you the basics. First, grab a DVD or video that you want to transfer to your PSP. If you’re going with a DVD, then you’ll need DVD ripping software that will allow you to extract the movie file. Once it’s extracted, you have to use encoding software that will make the movie viewable on the PSP since it supports only a specific video format. There are a few different options available for encoding software. If you’re using Mac OS X, then you can use iPSP, which offers a number of different encoding options (for example, there’s an option to make the file smaller at the cost of losing image and sound quality). For the PC, there are a few alternatives. You can use Sony’s own encoding software, which actually hasn’t gone into full release at the time of this writing, or you can use other software that will convert the files into an MP4 format. Check out the links in the sidebar to find out where you can get this software.

STEP THREE Now you have to transfer the converted MP4 movie file over to your PSP. All you have to do is plug your PSP into your computer via a USB (be sure to select the USB connect option on the PSP) and you should be good to go. When you click on the PSP icon on your computer, you’ll notice that there’s a file directory structure. Unfortunately, putting movies on the PSP isn’t as simple as tossing them into a directory called “movie.” You have to create a new directory called MP_ROOT, which should be sitting outside the main PSP folder. Once you’ve done that, you should rename your movies to MV40000 and change the “0000” to number different movies. So, your first movie would be MV40001.MP4, and so on. Then transfer the MP4 file over to the PSP and you should be ready to watch some movies on the go.

PUT PICTURES ON YOUR MEMORY STICK

This is pretty easy to do and there are instructions on how to put pictures on your PSP in the manual itself. However, it’s worth pointing out that if you’re using iPSP for OS X or if similar software gets released on the PC, your PSP can automatically sync with some picture programs. So, it’s easy to just select whatever pictures you want to transfer over and be done with it. Again, you’re going to have to buy a large memory stick if you want to be able to look at lots of images along with everything else.

The idea is to not think of pictures in the typical sense, but to think of anything that can be transferred into a JPG or any other compatible format to your PSP. Theoretically, you could scan any reading material (books, comic books, magazines) into a compatible format and have it available to read on the PSP. Unfortunately, right now, it takes a few seconds for the PSP to render an image, so if it’s an image that requires a lot of scrolling, you’ll notice it’s a bit blurry at first. This seems more like an issue with the PSP than the speed of the memory stick, so it may be possible for Sony to remedy the problem with a firmware update in the future.

PUT MUSIC ON YOUR MEMORY STICK

The same things that apply to pictures pretty much apply to music. All you have to do is set your PSP to USB connect mode and transfer either MP3 or ATRAC music files into the music directory folder on the PSP. Again, this whole process will be a whole lot easier if you are using some kind of software that handles the busywork for you, but even if you don’t, it still isn’t too difficult.

Unfortunately, the PSP isn’t a full-featured music player, but it gets the job done. There are a few general settings to adjust bass and treble, depending on the type of song you’re listening to, but you can’t adjust individual sound levels. As far as playlists go, the PSP does support m3u playlists as well as different directories, so you can still load up specific music and have it ready to go when you’re out and about. The audio quality of the PSP is pretty good, but we also highly recommend that you invest in a good pair of earphones to get the most out of it.

Useful Software

If you’re using OS X, then iPSP is the only application you need. It syncs with almost all preexisting Mac applications, such as iTunes and iPhoto, plus it makes encoding movies a snap. Check it out at kaisakura .com. If you’re on a PC and looking for software to help convert your movie files into PSP-compatible MPEG-4 files, then look no further than www.nurs.or.jp/~calcium/ 3gpp/. It’s a little difficult to use at the moment, but it should work well until Sony releases its official encoding software.

Not a Lot of Choices

The memory stick duo and memory stick pro duo, which are compatible with the PSP, come in flavors ranging from 32MB to 1GB. The pro duo is a little bit faster than the duo. While this difference is negligible while playing games, you may notice a slight difference when loading up movies, music, or images. Unfortunately, only Sony and SanDisk offer memory sticks at the moment. The Sony versions are generally much more expensive, but they’re a bit easier to find. We advise shopping around on the Internet to find good deals—Froogle .com is a great place to start—but make sure you don’t accidentally pick up a regular pro memory stick. It’s longer than the duo or pro duo, so it won’t fit in the PSP.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.