Sony Psp: Why So Cheap Here ?

[Butterfly]

I am not a gamer but I have to admit that the new Sony PlayStation Portable is amazing. What is even more amazing is the price here in Bangkok. It's the same cost as in the US, even better, cheaper than in the US when coming from the major stores.

It's quoted at $250 on Amazon.com and some vendors on the web sell it for as low as $200

Guess what, you can buy it here for that exact same price.

Reminder of a few PSP features:

- Play PSP games (obviously)

- Great screen (Plasma like miniature)

- Play DVD/Dvix

- Play MP3

- DTS Sound 7.1

- Hold 1GB of Memory for Movies etc... on Memory Stick (Cheap here also, 5000 baht for the special ultra fast GAMING version instead of $150 in the US)

- USB port to connect to PC

This is a great Entertainment system and it has everything and it's cheaper than a stupid overpriced PS2

You can also buy here "games" for 200 baht and put them on your memory stick and save them on your PC.

Original games go for 2000 baht though but the 200 baht game "options" here make it all a worthwile little entertainment system.

Anyone here has one. Feedback ?

Edited August 7, 2005 by Butterfly

[kenkannif]

Where would you advise to get it from mate???

[Butterfly]

Where would you advise to get it from mate???

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At the usual places

PM me for details

No need to advertise "stores" here

Edited August 7, 2005 by Butterfly

[kelv23]

I am not a gamer but I have to admit that the new Sony PlayStation Portable is amazing.

This is a great Entertainment system and it has everything and it's cheaper than a stupid overpriced PS2

Anyone here has one. Feedback ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You obviously arent a gamer,there arent that many decent games on the market yet for the PSP with the exception of Ridge Racer and Wipeout Pure most of the games are pretty poor ports of the "stupid overpriced PS2 versions".

This is normal for a new platform and as the months go by more towards December,the peak season for releases I'm sure the better games will appear.

As for it having everything well not just yet.The multimedia side of the PSP is still far from being perfect,playback issues to file conversion and Sonys usual approach to making their own storage formats are all in need of attention.

The hackers out there will have a field day producing cracks for it.Its good but not that good,.........yet

[Butterfly]

Yep a few games, but since I am not a gamer, I would be quite happy with only 2 or 3 games.

Should I wait then ? the PSP is not even released in Europe yet and the official price in Thailand is 20,000 baht for one, that is $400

Maybe time to grab those "Japan" imports before it's too late and prices go up

[kelv23]

Yep a few games, but since I am not a gamer, I would be quite happy with only 2 or 3 games.

Should I wait then ? the PSP is not even released in Europe yet and the official price in Thailand is 20,000 baht for one, that is $400

Maybe time to grab those "Japan" imports before it's too late and prices go up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you said you knew where to get them for 8,000 baht now its up to 20,000 bit of a jump there

[Butterfly]

Yep a few games, but since I am not a gamer, I would be quite happy with only 2 or 3 games.

Should I wait then ? the PSP is not even released in Europe yet and the official price in Thailand is 20,000 baht for one, that is $400

Maybe time to grab those "Japan" imports before it's too late and prices go up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you said you knew where to get them for 8,000 baht now its up to 20,000 bit of a jump there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep. I got quoted 20,000 baht from Central (official import) but in some "game shop" it's about 9,000 (Japan import).

Edited August 7, 2005 by Butterfly

[Rob W]

No fair us poor fools stuck in the UK

STILL not out here, gotta wait till Thursday, and then you'll never get one in the shops cause they reserved em all ages ago Grrrr.

Oh and they're going for about £180

Reckon I've handled it pretty well myself

[lopburi3]

Yep a few games, but since I am not a gamer, I would be quite happy with only 2 or 3 games.

Should I wait then ? the PSP is not even released in Europe yet and the official price in Thailand is 20,000 baht for one, that is $400

Maybe time to grab those "Japan" imports before it's too late and prices go up

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you said you knew where to get them for 8,000 baht now its up to 20,000 bit of a jump there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep. I got quoted 20,000 baht from Central (official import) but in some "game shop" it's about 9,000 (Japan import).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well as a former frequent visitor to the shops of Hat Yai I can tell you from experience that what is on the outside often is not want you find inside. Buyer beware. What may look like a name brand is often 30 day garbage inside.

[phazey]

What shop is doing the 1GB mem-stick ?

512 just can't cut it any more even tho i would prefere a 2GB stick, i have games to play....

./P

[bkk_mike]

What shop is doing the 1GB mem-stick ?

512 just can't cut it any more even tho i would prefere a 2GB stick, i have games to play....

./P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got a 1Gb stick at IT Mall (shop on the 4th floor - opposite Book Chest).

Sony ones are 7,990 baht, and Sandisk ones at 5,190 baht. (Although I know from experience that the SanDisk one isn't high speed - it takes a while to write a couple of movies to one).

As for putting movies onto it - I usually start with a reasonably high quality MPEG4 file (i.e. AutoGK from a DVD using XVid, with sound set to 128K MP3) - then downsize from that to PSP format using the free pspvideo9 software. (i.e. 2 pass variable bit rate of 384Kbps, with 64K MP3 works pretty well.) - So far I haven't had a single file that hasn't worked on the PSP. (Even stuff where the original was a downloaded avi file - just pushed through pspvideo9).

[bencms]

So Theres no general Price of a PSP in thailand

[nephilim]

So Theres no general Price of a PSP in thailand

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well if you go to a shop like Central, or B2S, the price is around 22000, whereas if you go to a shop in MBK or Panthip, the price is around 8000 - 9000.

Same with games - go to Central, they are up to 4000, go to MBK, they are below 2000.

I got mine in MBK, jap import, FW1.50, sandisk 1g 4900.

Neph.

[The Coder]

The 4GB memory sticks I looked at were 14000+ baht so I got a 1GB memory stick at 3400 baht (also Sandisk), but I didn't buy it in Thailand

[thebon]

Hello!

I'm going to Thailand in a month and I'm planning on picking up a PSP.

As far as I can tell, MBK or Panthip seems to be the best places in Bangkok for this purpose. The obvious question is how much it is, alltough I got a pretty good idea just from reading this thread.

My second question is if it's still possible to get the 1.0 or 1.5 PSP in those placesm at that time? If I get a PSP i would like to have the pleasure to experience homebrew!! I Live in Sweden and the only option here is the 2.0!

There hasn't been much activity in this thread lately but i thought I'd try it first anyway!

I'd really appriciate some posts on this!

Thanks in advance!

//TheBon

[thebon]

Forgot one question.

Are there some shops that are somewhat known to be more reliable in terms of quality etc?

[davidragu]

Anybody know if US (English) PSP games are available there, and how much they cost? I'm currently in Japan, but I'll be in Bangkok soon. Just wondering if it's cheaper to order them from the states here, or buy them in BKK.

[richb2004]

The PS2 is around 14,000 baht in my local store.

I see there is a white version also

[richb2004]

Sorry, I mean PSP.

[thohts]

I went to most of the shops at MBK and all of the shops at Pantip that had the PSP, a few months ago.

Pantip shops (only 2 had them at the time) only had PSPs with dead pixels.

Best place I think is MBK. I forget which level, but it's on the other side of the escalators going away from Tokyu on the floor with all the cellphone crap. I paid 19k, but you could probably get it for 8 or 9,000 baht now, and they'll open it up for you before you buy.

1GB Sony stick from the Sony shop (4th floor?). Cheapest in BKK, methinks. 4,995 at the time.

[thohts]

by the way.. in Hua Hin the same box (Japanese import) sells for 17,000-20,000.

They've truly got to be insane. They must think it's the US or Euro version.

I've had mine for perhaps 4 months and it continues to work perfectly.

[davidragu]

Thanks for the input. More specifically, I'm interested in the games. Any idea how much they cost, and if they have the English versions? I really want to pick up GTA for PSP when it is released in a couple of weeks.

Edited October 7, 2005 by davidragu

[Innit]

I bought mine a few weeks ago in Hong Kong. Paid 1,500 HK$, about 8,000 baht.

1 gig mem stick about the same as here. Games 2,000 baht a pop. I have 4 - Wipeout Pure, Coded Arms, Dead to Rights, and Tiger Woods Pga. Fantastic bit of kit.

Most games can be downloaded in iso. format which can be played on the mem stick.

Awaiting Gta and Gran Turismo.

[lomatopo]

The Sony PSP seems to be going for 8,000 ~ 10,000 THB in the U.S. And the 1GB memory stick duo module (Sandisk) for 3,000 THB, the 2GB ms duo for 6,000 THB.

Is the U.S. version equivalent to the versions available here in Thailand? Better, worse?

I am thinking about getting one as a present for someone here in Thailand but am trying to figure out the best place to buy it. I return to the U.S. every few months so it is easy for me to mail order via the web and then bring back with me.

It seems like there are two different versions available here in Thailand; is this grey market vs. retail and how does these compare with systems available in the U.S.?

[thohts]

US version is the same as the Japanese version, except with the US version you get Spiderman! and the accessories are slightly different.

Forget about 1GB memory sticks. Save your $$ and buy a 4GB add-on that INCLUDES an extra 8-hour battery pack (2-in-1)

http://psp.darkplanets.co.uk:81/datel-4gb-harddrive.asp

Saw it on Wired news today.

[solo siam]

That Datel Unit cost more than the PSP, 150 quid is about 11,000 baht or so.

Now if only they would have released a Sony media player, without all the high end gameplaying video/sound chips etc.. but with a 20Gb hard drive, solely for movies and music.

Movies look great on the PSP, and I actually envision using it more for media than as a games machine. If someone could do something like the datel but with a 20Gb hard drive I will be the first person queing up to buy it.

[thohts]

It's pricey but it's the best combo out there right now. I get about 6-7 hours of video as it stands, with my 1GB. If I add 4GB and the battery pack, that's about 15 hours of battery life and about 12 (okay quality) or 5 (excellent quality) full-length movies + music. I've spent 11,000 baht on worse things that provided much less of a thrill for so many hours.

More than I need right now, but I'm still salivating.

[walterbkk]

US PSP is not similar with Japanese, UK PSP is compatible with Japanese one to view UMD movies as both of them are in region code 2.

PSP from all countries can play all PSP games, the only problem will be with UMD movies, if you buy US PSP, u can play UMD region code 1 only just like in DVD player.

Anyone knows the price of games here in BKK? i have only NSF U, I'd like to know the price of Lumines , if you alredy bought one please tell me the price.

thanks.

[lomatopo]

I'm still trying to understand all the nuances of the various regional models and firmeware levels. If anyone has a good FAQ URL I'd welcome it (I've Googled a fair amount so far.).

I am working on the following assumptions:

1.) ver. 1.5 can play games off the memory stick, but ver. 2.0 can not?

2.) ver 2.0 has a web-browser but ver 1.5 does not?

3.) One can upgrade/downgrade between ver 1.5 and 2.0 at will?

4.) All PSP's have 802.11 (WiFi) built in?

Finally, do all the various regional platforms have the same basic hardware (processor), memory (internal) and operating software?

I'm not even onto the video formats/codecs yet.

[nephilim]

I'm still trying to understand all the nuances of the various regional models and firmeware levels. If anyone has a good FAQ URL I'd welcome it (I've Googled a fair amount so far.).

I am working on the following assumptions:

1.) ver. 1.5 can play games off the memory stick, but ver. 2.0 can not?

2.) ver 2.0 has a web-browser but ver 1.5 does not?

3.) One can upgrade/downgrade between ver 1.5 and 2.0 at will?

4.) All PSP's have 802.11 (WiFi) built in?

Finally, do all the various regional platforms have the same basic hardware (processor), memory (internal) and operating software?

I'm not even onto the video formats/codecs yet.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. kind of correct. you can use a downgrader to fool the PSP into thinking it's 1.5.0

2. correct

3. umm... kind of correct. right now it's a little hit and miss.

4. yes.

5. (your "finally") - yes, unless you count the firmware as o/s then, no. current you can find 1.5, 1.5.1, 2.0 but most "experienced" retailers in BKK are selling Japp PSP with 1.5.0 if they can.

you may like to browse this forum for more on whats going on in the grey area of PSP land:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/forumdisplay.php?f=80

I thought I'd just add as well that everywhere is now selling PSP games on cd for around 150B each (for those who can't d/l them) and many stalls - my fave in 6th floor MBK inc. - will show you how to get them on a Memstick and up and running, as well.

neph.