PSP vs iPod Touch: Early Thoughts

My household recently became flush, temporarily, and we decided to spend our newfound entertainment dollars on two snazzy devices: The Sony PSP and the Apple iPod Touch. Here are some of my thoughts after using both over the last fortnight or so:

Gaming: The PSP obviously kicks the iPod Touch's ass on this front, which should of course come as no surprise to anyone. What may come as some surprise is that this is the only area in which the PSP excels over the iPod Touch.

Video: The PSP turned out to be somewhat of a pain in the ass as a video player. It's far more persnickety than the iPod in terms of what it will play. Images on both screens look great, but getting those images to display is simply easier on the iPod Touch. Both units can pipe video out to larger display devices via component video, which is great. Ultimately, the iPod wins on this front for ease-of-use and broader file compatibility.

Audio: Both devices handle audio well. The iPod Touch offers a superior interface. It's just easier and more fun to operate the iPod with an oily finger than to push the PSP's buttons. Subjective, I know, but that's the tenor of this entire piece so deal with it. :) The PSP is less finicky with audio files than it is with video files, thankfully. In terms of functionality, this category is a tie, I suppose, although the iPod Touch's interface is better, cleaner, simpler. Buttonless = Modern.

Internet: The PSP utterly failed to impress me as an internet device. Web-browsing is hampered by a limited browser and a text-entry method that can most charitably be described as clunky. There is no way to access your email accounts via POP or IMAP. I was able to send and received messages via my web-based gmail account, but again, the experience was far from top-notch. The best internet PSP feature is its Skype app, which works very well after you spend $40 for the required Sony Headphones and PSP Headphone Remote (sold separately -- le sigh). Meanwhile, the iPod Touch is very nearly a pleasure to use, which is incredible considering it consists of exactly one button and a sheet of glass. You get a very capable mini-Safari for web-browsing and an equally capable Mail application that allows you to access your various POP and IMAP accounts with ease. I find the iPod Touch's solution to text entry to be very much acceptable, especially when compared with Sony's painful "solution." The iPod Touch causes you to use a hunt-and-peck, single-finger-typist approach, while the PSP forces you to use two hands to navigate a cell phone keypad interface. Not so good, Sony.

Conclusion: If you want an internet device and media player, get an iPod Touch. If you want a mobile gaming device, get a PSP. No surprises here, I know. But I was somewhat disappointed to learn that the PSP cannot compete with the iPod as an internet device, at least not with its current firmware (3.90 as of this writing). The PSP can do some very interesting things in tandem with a PS3 via its Remote Play functionality, so if you own both, you'll enjoy both more than you would enjoy either one singly.

There are no surprises with the iPod Touch. It performs very well as advertised and its lack of gaming capability cannot be a letdown as it never pretended toward offering a gaming experience. The news here is that while the PSP offers net functionality (including the recent addition of a Skype app that does work well), that functionality is largely underwhelming at best. Don't go into a PSP thinking that you're buying the total package.

I know both devices will continue to evolve. I know there is a healthy PSP homebrew firmware community. I know Apple is releasing an SDK for its mobile devices very soon. All of that is beyond the scope of this piece which is concerned with comparisons of out-of-box versions of both devices. For the record, I love both, but for very different reasons.

Aight. 'Nuff said.