Here's What to do.

1) Make sure you've got the latest firmware update, which is 3.80, which you can download with a wireless network or on your computer here. If you intend on using some "illegal" stuff, you darned hackers you, then this whole thing probably isn't for you anyways so don't bother reading further. However, it's always best practice to keep your firmware updated. Plus if you find yourself bored at Aunt Agatha's dinner table but can't fake playing a game, at least you can listen to some internet radio using the new firmware update. See, not so useless after all!

2) Check the PlayStation Store to see if there are any demos or, unimaginably, any demos you'd like to download. You could also see if there are any games worth buying, though for now the library is limited to meh and no way's. Still, if you see something worthwhile that you don't have on UMD already, it might be worth getting.

3) Go through your PS1 library and find the game you'd most likely play should a wifi connection be available. If you don't have one, or don't have a PlayStation 3, then forget it, but if you do, make sure you've got your PSP set up to use "remote play" on the PS3. That way if you get tired of your collection of games, at least you'll have just one more game to push through. Or you can put Lair in there...your choice entirely.

4) Following suit with the last idea, see what music and/or videos you want to put on the PS3 beforehand. Streaming may be a problem if the internet connection is weak or there's no wifi, of course, but it's always worth a shot. And chances are that someone around has a wifi connection, so just walk around the street looking for one. Shouldn't be too hard. Also, don't forget that you can alwasys stream from your PC to your PS3, and subsequently to the PSP. It may take a bit of doing, and hopefully your network will allow it (mine currently doesn't sad face), but if you don't mind leaving your PC on all week, it will definitely pay off.

5) Download Media Manager 2.5 off the PlayStation Store free (for anyone who didn't know, it wasn't free before, so be happy Sony's in the giving mood...though it should've been free from the beginning. Meh). Once you've got it installed, make sure you get it on whatever laptop you plan on bringing (you are bringing one, right?) so you can change your software on the trip back. You don't want to be bored on either side of the trip, so plan ahead and keep whatever you want to do then on your hard drive for later use. Unless you've got an 8 gig flash drive for the PSP, don't try to pack everything in.

6) Pack up your games library. If you're like me, you don't have many PSP games so it isn't really an issue of what games to take. Instead, it's whether I want to take any or not. But if you've got more games than your carrying case can hold, just look over what you wouldn't mind playing again, what you haven't played, and what you don't know why you still haven't it/haven't burnt it/haven't sold yet. If this is a problem for you, which it really shouldn't be, just toss the games at the floor, close your eyes and pick up however many you can fit in the case. Easy enough, I hope.

7) The most important one if you've got full length movies/long videos you plan on watching on the PSP, or originally planned for your laptop. Instead of wasting the battery on your laptop, which may come to better use later on, just follow these simple directions: download SUPER from here, which is much easier than their actual website because you'll never figure out how to download it from them.

From there you'll want to select the output container to the very last one, which is PSP, then set the Video Scale Size to 480:272. Set the proper aspect ratio (usually widescreen, 16:9) and be sure to make the Frame/Sec at 29.97. Otherwise you'll only see half the images, which will ultimately suck.

The rest of the options really make little difference, but if you want the highest quality, you'll have to see what the video you have plays at specifically. Just remember that the higher bitrates you set, the better quality you'll get, but also the more space you'll use on the flash drive.

Finally, set whatever files you want converted to play on the PSP into the box (by literally dragging them into the box on the bottom) and select Encode. Then leave it on overnight, since it takes a lot of resources and time to do this. It wasn't as much as other, not so free encoders, but it still will drain your computer for the time being. If you plan on using it, wait until you're done before setting it to encode.

When the conversion is done the following morning, just plug the PSP in, open up Media Manager 2.5 and drag and drop whatever files you want into the PSP. Easy as that.

Enjoy the holidays!

Comments (2)

	1. Written by MAlystxy on 12-23-2007 14:59 - Guest
	Dude, why so negative about the psp games?? IT has a great library with tons of great games!! Go look at it again ya dumb nugget. Report

	2. Written by driftproject240 on 12-23-2007 15:25 - Guest
	This makes me want to buy a PSP even more so than i already did. Unfortunately, i am quite poor, so i'll be forced to mooch off my PSP-owning friends and replace all their stuff with movies. AWESOME! Report

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