The PSP out of the box is very portable, looks good, and has multiple uses, but with all this going for it one still has to depend on other add-ons to truly make this a usable device. The most important of these add-ons is a screen protector. You scratch the original screen and pretty soon you are trying to read through an opaque window. Some of the screen protectors have an adhesive side and work really well. A standard reflective light cover would be even more advantageous.

The sleek and slender profile looks good, but is difficult to manually manage the controls. It has a slippery finish and button-to-trigger reach is too short for me. I found a rubber sheath type covering to pull over the unit that helped out tremendously. (My second purchase.)

I was wondering about the two threaded holes in the rear on the PSP and with some dumb luck happen to see a cover that utilizes the holes and mounts a hinged protector that can be used to block the angle of the sun to help with the reflected light on the LCD screen. It made the unit look like a whole device (very, very sleek). Flip the lid up and lock and load and you are into the action. Why didn't it come with the unit? Well the rubber sheath would need a bit of modification, but it was easy to do with an Exacto knife. Now my case has a grip cover and a hold down for the screen protectors. I feel these are the most prominent shortcomings to the unit. (And now, my third add-on purchase.)

You can play movies on the PSP also but only in the Sony UMD format or by downloading them and put them on the memory sticks. A movie is about 78 mg in the format on the memory stick. I was talking to a salesman who said that they haven't been selling the Sony sticks very often, now trying to find one is a challenge. This boosted that type of memory sales tremendously. You can use the 2 gig memory stick in the PSP. The cost I have found for the 2 gig is about $500. The 512mg one I bought was about $90. The movies downloaded are just as crisp and clear as the DVD version. (Purchase four and five - a cable.)

I should now mention the battery life issue. I have found that playing movies takes more energy than playing a game. I get about 5+ hours of game play on a fully charged unit. I have added a battery pack add-on that extends this play time by more than 3 hours. The battery pack add-on that uses rechargeable batteries doesn't quite last as long, but is a good back up. The PSP being portable means you need a 12v adapter for your auto. We love our cars here on the west coast. Play or movie time becomes endless with this add-on. The familiar question "are we there yet" now becomes "I will be there as soon as I finish this". (Purchase number six?)

Cases to haul all your goodies around in vary widely. Some of the cases are absolutely useless and others have wonderful features. Shop around to find the one that fits your needs and uses, or you will end up like me with 5 cases and using two of them; one for portability and one for the add-ons. I found one that holds two memory sticks and 4 game cartridges and the unit. There was nowhere for the ear phones though. I bought a base boosted surround sound head set and find it much more comfortable that the one sold with the unit. It works well for gaming, but if you are watching movies then the standard unit has controls like a VCR on it making the PSP more users friendly. (Purchases seven and eight - we'll count the 5 cases as one.)

I like the wi-fi hook-up. No more looking for cords and hubs, you just use ad-hoc and connect with another person's unit. There are games for single players and also for up to 4 players available. You can also connect to other wi-fi systems for downloads from your computer. You might want to download music and use the unit like and MP3 player or just have a selection of movies on your card. Win XP syncs right up and recognizes your unit and you can use it as needed following the pop-up menu. It wouldn't take much more and you would have a chat unit and add a camera and phone and you have a complete mobile office.

The graphics are as good as or even better than the regular PS2. There were 40 games released at startup and more on the way. To date, I have played 5 of the games and enjoyed all them; I also watched the Spiderman 2 movie with no complaints.

I would like to see a more effective way to hold the device for movies and gaming. My hands aren't really that large, but it would be more comfortable to have something resting in my palm like the other gamming controllers.

I love the PSP device and plan taking it on vacation for two weeks where it will get plenty of use. Sony has found a nitch market as this is a very adult system; and with the help of third party vendors stepping up and providing the necessary add-ons, the PSP is remarkable.