PSP 4GB Hard Drive with Battery Reviews

• As expected, no surprises.

  
  By A22QBV07L0JM72 on 2006-03-17
  The Datel hard drive is no more and no less than what it appears to be in the product advertisements. That is, it has what it advertises: 4 gigs, battery, cable, video conversion software. It is also as bulky as it looks. There are little to no surprises with this product; you are getting exactly what it is advertised and what is shown in the images.
  
  Going into more detail:
  
  - Hard Drive: the drive works as it should.
  
  - Battery: the battery seems to work as it should. I use "seems" b/c I did not verify if it actually lasts longer than the original battery. Thus far, I have no reason to doubt its claims. I also dropped my PSP at a height of 1.5-2 feet (and nearly had a heart attack), and this resulted in the PSP not being able to turn on. After panicking for a bit, I took out the battery and put it back in, and it worked after that. The conclusion is that the battery could come loose if you drop it from an unsafe height. But I think you have other problems to worry about than the battery pack if you drop your machine.
  
  - USB cable: it works as it should.
  
  - Software: I was able to use the software to convert an AVI file. It has various settings on quality. For the movie I converted, I had to use the highest quality conversion; it otherwise did not look good. The highest quality conversion was essentially 1:1 in terms of size. It also failed to do a conversion on another AVI file, leading me to believe that it's success rate is dependent on the codec used to encode the file.
  
  - Bulkiness: You've seen the pictures. It should be no surprise that it is bulky. Does it interfere with gameplay? It did for me, but not because of the shape. It was the weight. There's a combination of factors involved here: (1) I'm playing Tokobot, which is an analog stick game. When I play such games, my left pinkie supports much of the machine's weight. (2) I usually play laying down on my bed, and thus the machine is held *vertically*. Because of these two factors, my left pinkie gets sore after about a half hour. If you hold your PSP differently, it shouldn't be a problem. Also, if I play with the PSP held *horizontally*, I have no problem with it. Thus, it wasn't the shape or size that interefered with my gameplay, but the weight.
  
  - Operations: This product has provided no interference with normal usage.
  
  - Accessories: I stumbled across one web page that had a case which is specifically designed to hold the PSP with the Datel hard drive. However, I cannot find it anymore =( You can still attach face armors to the PSP, but not armors that protect the back.
  
  - Unexpected Surprise: After attaching the battery and hard drive, you can actually stand the PSP at a tilted angle for viewing, much like those movie stand accessories.
  
  
  

• Not worth it

  
  By A2AY2OLSDLOIQJ on 2006-02-27
  This product makes the PSP too bulky. Its looses its apeal as a small light portable divice.
  
  For that uch money my advice is to buy a couple of 2GB memory sticks. Same ammount of space, more portable, more convenient, faster loading and don't change the overall shape of you PSP.
  
  I have the logitech portecting case and if I want to use it, I have to remove the hard drive which defeats its whole purpose.
  
  

• Too much to pay for a mediocre product.

  
  By A31S3DTUOTFZAR on 2006-02-17
  This is a poorly made after market product and it is a total rip off. The hard drive and extra battery pack extrudes from the back of your PSP making it bulkier. Because of this bulk the UMD slot gets stuck when trying to open it. The fittings for the HD do not fit snugly into the PSP backing so it easily comes off. When it does come off the very fragile paper backing of the HD is exposed to damage. (There is also a warning on this paper backing letting you know your warranty is void if it is removed.) The cable that connects from the HD to the PSP requires that your card slot remain open at all times and exposes it to wear and damage. The battery pack IS twice as big but it can only be charged by connecting the charging wire to the PSP, you can not use the battery pack adapter.
  Don't waste your money on this product. The extra memory doesn't make it worth all of the other inconveniences that come along with it. It also costs about as much as a brand new PSP. Hopefully I can sell mine.
  
  

• or you could do this

  
  By on 2006-03-11
  you could also get the 1 or 2gb stick. or better yet wait for the 4 and 8gb sticks to come out later this year. they are makin it in a miniature form cause you cant get make a 4gb or more in that form factor. but it will be expensive on launch. thats why sandisk lowered the cost of their sticks, so they can release the the new ones.
  
  p.s. i dont have an account on this site (yet) thats y im using a kids reveiw
  
  

• Datel 4GB HDD Rocks!!

  
  By A2T04D1PHW5A0H on 2006-02-22
  Unlike the previouse Review, I have had the HDD for a few months now and it rocks. I got it from a differtn site for only 170. There is no paper backing to the hdd, it a all plastic case to it with t sticker on that back with the formenchoind warrning. The Hdd is very secure on the psp, and with the 2X battery cover the two items act like a handgrip for the psp. I have larger hands than most peopel so it feels nice having a better grip on the psp. The design of the @x battery cover and the hdd when attached dose not block the UMD door at all, there is plenty of clearance. I use my Hdd for MP3s and for homebrew emulators for the psp. The only downside i see with the unit it since it has a 4GB Hitachi MicroDrive in it the responce time compared to a full on MemoryStick is slower, but it dosent interfers with MP3 playback at all. For Higherquality videos this lag time will cause problems, but seeing as I watch on UMD movies on my psp is fine. For anyonw who is thingking about getting the Datel 4GB HDD I recomend it for more music playback, pic viewing, or ROM and emulator use. For high quality movies, got witha 2GB memorystick. I LOVE MY DATEL 4 GB HDD
  
  

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