Got one of these on Friday, and thought I'd post a few first impressions 
on how they compare with the old model. The changes, for the most post, 
are fairly slight, so this will probably end up being far more detail 
than anybody cares about. Hopefully somebody might find it of interest, 
anyway.

The first thing you notice about them is just how light they actually 
are. They have that PS3 pad feel to them where, because it's so light, 
it almost seems like something must be missing. Of course, unlike the 
PS3 pad, with the PSP nothing actually is.

The size is less notable. If you sit one next to an old model then, yes, 
they are thinner, but you'd be hard pressed to tell otherwise. They're 
actually very slightly shorter too, but again it's not really obvious. 
Compared to a closed DS Lite, the new PSP is shorter and thinner and 
about an inch and a half wider.

I didn't think it would actually be possible to make a material that 
shows up fingerprints more than the original PSP, but they've managed it 
with the Slim and Lite. The "piano black" model shows up marks from the 
moment you get it out of the box and, unlike the old one, even the back 
is made of glossy plastic. I can't help thinking they should have gone 
the other way and made the whole thing matt like the rear of the old 
PSP. Unlike the old ones, the new ones are made from actual black 
plastic, rather than clear plastic with a black backing. This means that 
the front is no longer a single piece. Instead, the screen is a separate 
bit of plastic with a small gap around it, ideal for collecting dust. On 
the up side, the new model is more rounded, and the shiny plastic feels 
quite nice to hold.

They've made a few changes to the layout of the system which, though 
small, are generally a nice improvement. The speakers are at the top 
now, so don't get covered by your fingers as you play (though the power 
light still does). The headphone socket has moved to the right, so 
headphones don't get in the way as much as they used to. Also, the 
memory card slot is now on the side, getting rid of the slightly flimsy 
flap thing that used to be on the back of the machine. The whole thing 
generally feels more solid, in fact, with the battery cover being nice 
and tight now, too. The UMD slot no longer has an eject switch, but can 
just be pulled open. Seems a bit odd initially, but works fine.

The big thing for me is what they've done to the controls. For my money, 
the PSP's main problem (other than the fact nobody's buying games for 
it) is that the controls are utterly awful. You have a dpad that's worse 
than anything a mainstream console has shipped with in the last 10 
years, a crap analogue input, shoulder buttons that are designed for 
form over function and a square buttons that works only when it feels 
like it. Now, I'm not sure how much this has been improved in PSPs since 
launch (mine is a launch day Japanese model, and the dpad and buttons 
are terrible), but the Slim and Lite certainly goes a long way in the 
right direction.

The dpad on the new model is just great. Really sensitive, and easy to 
get diagonals. I can consistently do specials and supers on Street 
Fighter Zero 3, which I never could before even after modding the dpad 
and sticking on the bit of plastic Capcom supplied. The buttons are also 
good. Nice and springy, and the square button is just as good as the 
rest of them.

The analogue stick thing is unchanged as far as I can tell, as are the 
shoulder buttons, pretty much (they may be a touch higher, but that 
might just be my old PSP showing its age).

The screen seems more or less the same quality as before. It's the same 
brightness, and has the same blurring on blacks as my launch old model 
PSP. I've not tried the TV out, because you need a progressive scan TV 
unless you just want to watch your UMD movie collection. Also, the 
cables are apparently made out of Unicorn hair, which is why there are 
only three of them in the world.

Anyway, I think overall, they've done a good job with the new model. The 
controls are the big seller from my point of view. In some cases, like 
fighting games, the difference is like night and day. I'd've liked a 
better analogue stick, and a less blurry screen but the reduced weight 
is good, and the thing generally feels nicer to hold and use than 
before. Whether or not it's worth an upgrade depends on how bad the dpad 
and buttons are on your existing model. On mine, they were getting to 
the point that they were barely functional and it put me off playing 
games, so it's been well worth it for me.

The Slim and Lite seems to have done incredibly well in Japan in its 
first week, so hopefully software development might get a bit of a kick 
up the arse. The death of the PS2 means that easy PSP ports are going to 
go away very soon. In my view, this is either going to kill the system 
off or provide the catalyst for more original and exclusive games. I 
thought it had a fairly strong TGS this year (better than the DS), and 
Sony are nothing if not stubborn, so with luck the system can pick up 
strength again. They just need to get more of them into the hands of 
people who play games, rather than the apparent "buy new gadget and 
stick it in a drawer after a month" crowd that initially seemed to be 
their market. There are already a load of great games for the PSP; they 
just need to start shouting about them a bit more.

Thanks for the review James, glad they sorted the Dpad out, like some others 
I modded mine and similar to the new model the difference is night and day.

Apparently GT will be out at some point for the PSP after they've finished 
the PS3 version - about 2010!

James Sutherland  wrote:
> The first thing you notice about them is just how light they actually 
> are. They have that PS3 pad feel to them where, because it's so light, 
> it almost seems like something must be missing. Of course, unlike the 
> PS3 pad, with the PSP nothing actually is.

The weight combined with the all-glossy look actually makes it feel like
a chinese pirate copy that plays crap game-and-watch-type games at
first.

> The UMD slot no longer has an eject switch, but can just be pulled
> open. Seems a bit odd initially, but works fine.

After using it for about a week now I've come to the conclusion that
it's designed to be opened with the PSP's screen tilted towards so the
UMD disc rests on the metal bar rather than lying loose on the cover.

> Nice and springy, and the square button is just as good as the 
> rest of them.

If you compare against the old one they've shifted the face buttons
marginally towards the edge of the machine, which is probably what
"fixed" the square button.

-a