Joystiq Review: PSP Media Manager 1.0

by James Ransom-Wiley on Mar 16th 2006 11:00AM

This review was intended to be a DVD-to-PSP how-to guide. Unfortunately, the Media Manager software does not offer a simple solution for porting your DVD stockpile to the PSP. And why should it? Sony wants you to support the UMD format.

So what does Media Manager have to offer PSP owners?

Batter Up
Sony’s PSP Media Manager steps to the plate and quickly falls behind with an 0-2 count (that's two strikes for those that don't follow baseball). Forcing users to shell out $20 for admission is strike one. C’mon Sony, charging us to access a software program that should have been packaged with the PSP from day one is downright crooked. And here comes strike two... In order to use Media Manager’s video conversion capabilities, we’re required to install firmware v2.00 or higher on our PSPs. Considering that one needs v2.00 to gain access to the AVC codec feature, this requirement is more understandable than the entry fee, but it's still not acceptable.

PSP Media Manager

We could just end the review here and recommend you try one or several of the free software applications—that don't require users to upgrade firmware—that will allow you to make PSP-compatible video files. But, according to our count, Media Manager hasn't struck out yet. Yet.

Here's the Pitch...
You’ll likely hit a few snags before you even get started with the software (note: Media Manager is not Mac-compatible). Media Manager requires Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1, which you can download and install via a prompted link during the software’s installation setup. It's a simple procedure, but frustrating nonetheless. You’ll also have to complete a validation process, as well as license registration—at least for the online version (note: the boxed store version retails for $29.95 and includes a USB cable & 5 song downloads). Again, this is painless, but time consuming. Once Media Manager is up and running—give yourself 10 minutes to get there—you’ll be treated to a user-friendly interface with decent looks to boot.

PSP Media Manager

After you connect your PSP (and give it a “name”) you can finally get down to business. True to its name, the program will allow its user to integrate media from the PC to the PSP seamlessly. A row of icons (see above) along the top of the window represents the various modes of operation: Photo, Music, Video, CD, Feed, Game, Backup, and Settings.

Media Manager The icons correspond to your PC, so, for example, when you browse the “Video” mode, the top window will display any content in the “My Videos” folder by default—you can add/remove other folders with ease, using the “action buttons” to the right. To convert a video to your PSP, first check that your PSP is connected and that you have sufficient space on your memory stick (see image right). Next, review your settings. You can adjust size/quality using the pull-down “Target” option in the upper right corner. You can only choose between “High AVC” or “Low AVC,” which may or may not suit your needs. As control freaks, we prefer more fine-tuning, but even in Settings Mode, users are limited to the high/low option, plus the ability to “Optimize for PSP playback.”

After you’re satisfied with the target setting, simply drag the video file from the PC window across the spilt and drop it into the PSP window; or, highlight the file and press the “Transfer” button. The encoding bar (see below) at the bottom of the screen will display the percent complete of the transfer/conversion, along with the total time elapsed. Media Manager converted and transfered a 21:17 minute AVI (video) file (137.8 MB) into a High AVC encoded MP4 file (134.4 MB) in 32 minutes and 32 seconds (on par with other available software).

PSP Media Manager

Here’s the list of (PC) video formats that are supported by Media Manager:

.mp4
.avi
.wmv
.mov
.qt
.3gp
.dv
.mpg
.mpeg1
.mpeg2
.zip
.mmv
.mmv
.m1p
.mp1
.mp2
.m2p
.m2t

Swing and a Miss
You may have noticed that .vob (that’s DVD Video Object) is missing from the list above. Although .vob files are basically .mpeg2 files (supported by Media Manager), Sony wants to make it difficult for users to convert DVD files into a suitable format for the PSP. Despite the fact that there are numerous applications available on the Internet that will convert your .vob files into a format supported by Media Manager, this blatant obstacle is most definitely strike three against Sony’s flashy but flawed PSP management software.

A Second At-bat?
If you're willing to forego Media Manager's crippled video conversion, you may get some production out of the program after all:

Photo Mode will re-encode your image files (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif, .png, .gif, .bmp, .dib, .tiff, .tif, .zip supported) to JPEG format and transfer them onto your PSP
Music Mode will re-encode your audio files (.mp3, .wma, .wav, .pca, .ogg, .m1a, .mpa, .m2a, .m4a, .m4b, .aac supported) to MP3/ATRAC format and transfer them onto your PSP
CD Mode will automatically extract tracks from a CD, convert them to MP3 format, and transfer them to your PSP
Use Feeds Mode to subscribe to RSS feeds (supports audio, video, or still image) and transfer them to your PSP
Use Game Mode to copy or delete saved games
Use Backup Mode to backup files from your PSP; or restore files from your computer

It should be noted that most of the functions listed above can be performed without Media Manager. By plugging your PSP into your computer and simply doing a little drag n' drop, you can easily transfer MP3s or JPEGs to your PSP or create a backup folder of your saved games on your PC. Using the PSP alone (not connected to a PC), you're free to delete any files that are stored on the device's memory stick.

Yer Outta Here!
It took Sony almost eight months after the launch of the PSP to release Media Manager. In the interim, many PSP owners turned to 3rd-party developers for software, and that trend isn't going to change. If you're interested in video conversion (that supports .vob) try PSP Video 9—not as purdy as Media Manager, but it's free! Otherwise, go ahead and pay your lazy tax, buy your DVDs again on UMD and purchase PSP Media Manager 1.0 to convert and transfer the rest of your on-the-go media.

Overall Rating: 3.0 / 10 (looks gotta count for somethin')

Tags: AVC, PC, PSP, PSP Media Manager, PspMediaManager, video conversion, VideoConversion

Reader Comments (23)

Caso Cerrado.

I stayed there once. Nice place.

The PSP is finished. This is Brownian movement.

thank god for the internet.

and the psp isnt finished, you clown.

Sony makes some of the WORST software.

It was a chore, but I've been using various utilities I found on the net for transfering media to the PSP, and it works like a charm. My PSP is used more for watching recorded content from my Media Center PC than it is for games.

Interesting review.

PSP Media Manager, however, does support VOB files and even stitches together split VOB files into one video - it just doesn't support 'protected' files such as those that are on an actual DVD. The method is simple - extract the VOB files with DVD Decrypter and then use PSP Media Manager to convert to your PSP.

Add in the excellent videoblog and RSS feed support, the ease of moving audio with on-the-fly resampling and the backup facility and you've got a great piece of software.

Maybe next time you could review the software after actually trying it, rather than just assuming it doesn't work and skewing the results by reviewing only one feature...

It would be a little odd if Sony supported DVD to PSP conversion, considering that that's illegal... You're breaking the DMCA each time you do it, and that's one of Sony's favorite laws.

Sony software is crap.

Converting your DVD video to PSP format is not illegal. Thanks to a little thing called Fair Use (check it out at eff.org), you have the right to backup, archive, convert, et al with your media.

Also, hazzah for free media PSP managers and Mac support. They keep my 1.5 firmware PSP runnin'.

Mac version coming?

This does not bode well for the PS3 or Sony's online network.

I dunno what the hub-bub is all about. I bought the online version a couple of weeks ago and loved it.

Now should it have been included with the PSP? Of course but at $20 to download that is hardly a dent in the wallet (even if you are working at McDonalds or something.)

Now I don't watch movies on my PSP (thats what a TV and surround sound system are for) so I can care less if it doesn't support certain video formats.

The RSS newsfeed stuff I haven't been able to figure out yet but then again I haven't really sat down and messed with it.

You also don't *need* the USB cable to hookup your PSP though. If you have a memory card reader (I have an internal 3.5" bay 7-in-1 reader) you can use that as well.

"Maybe next time you could review the software after actually trying it"

...and keeping an open mind instead of already having a biased view on it.

"Now I don't watch movies on my PSP (thats what a TV and surround sound system are for) so I can care less if it doesn't support certain video formats.

The RSS newsfeed stuff I haven't been able to figure out yet but then again I haven't really sat down and messed with it."

Why would you buy this product if you don't use it for video and if you can't figure out the RSS feeds? Do you just use it for Music? Can't you do that without the software?

At $20, it is a scam.

And I thought the gba movie player ( http://www.gbamovie.com/ ) was a pain in the ass. It's a dream compared to getting media into the psp.

Why does sony have to make it so difficult for us? This reminds me of what a pain it was to get music into their crappy mini disc recorder I bought all those ages ago. Of course it would become even more difficult the minuet the warranty was up and the piece of crap would stop recording. Some things never change.

Y'know come to think of it, that was (and will always be) the last sony product I actually paid money for. Sony, I love their games, but the company really pisses me off.

This review isn't complete, yet.

Be sure to let us know what parts of your computer were rendered inoperable after the lengthy and complicated uninstall process and what new security risks can be exploited after having it installed.

I'd also like to know what sort of information it monitors and sends back to Sony.

As if I'd ever trust Sony Malware again.

"Why would you buy this product if you don't use it for video and if you can't figure out the RSS feeds? Do you just use it for Music? Can't you do that without the software?"

At this time I don't use it for video b/c I don't really travel. Now if that changes then I'll use it for that but right now I just want some good original games for it (and Daxter is the first real original game for it since launch...a YEAR ago.)

I didn't say I'm never going to figure out how to do RSS feeds...I said I haven't sat down and really messed with it. When I get home from work (sitting in front of a computer) and from the gym...I rarely like to sit in front of my computer more.

While there are free programs that can do some of this stuff, they aren't exactly the most well designed and they're GUIs are ugly as hell.

I'm sure we are going to see more people post comments saying how crappy this software is when they (a) haven't used it and (b) will have some sort of biased view b/c its from Sony.

Here we go again with people's comments...bashing anything from Sony in other to make themselves look cool on the internet.

I used this software once. The GUI is quite nice and it's not slow at all.

"The GUI is quite nice and it's not slow at all."

Indeed...everything is just drag and drop. I like it. Unless you've actually used it, all you people bithcing about it have no idea what you ar talking about.

I've been using Media Manager now for 2 months and think its great! Its very fast at converting any file to the PSP. The reviews emphasis on it being poor because it doesn't allow DVD to PSP is ridiculous. Thats not forcing you to buy UMD at all, they simply cannot do that by LAW!! Who needs DVD OR UMD when you have a hard disk full of DivX movies? I've tried PSP Video 9 and it takes AGES to convert DVD.. I'll stick to Media Manager and my DivX collection thanks. The only thing I agree with in this review is the fact that the software should really come free with the PSP, but its not a big deal.

All the talk about it being annoying and long to install is a big over exaggeration too. Most XP machines now have all the extra stuff needed for media manager already installed. .NET framework is needed for so many things nowadays that its hard to find a PC that HASNT got it installed already. For me Media Manager was on and ready to use in 5 minutes.

You fail to mention how piss simple it is to setup the common directories for each media type, and how the interface automatically switches around with you as you change media types so you dont drop files in the wrong places. Little touches like that make it nice to use.

I will mention here too that I ordered the full package with the USB cable. It was posted to me and arrived here in Denmark from America in less than 48 hours. Shipping? $5 and because I was an early buyer I got $5 off... so free shipping really.

I'm a very happy customer.. 3/10 is so worng. I'd give it 8/10, 9 if it was free.

Side note: -

I wonder more and more if Joystiq (and the rest of the "Fanboy" sites associated with Joystiq) are on a Sony hating campaign of late. Even PSPfanboy is becoming a tad too sarcastic about certain Sony goings on.

So... when is PS3fanboy going to be made ready?? there is plenty of PS3 news now to start it going.......... Hi Bill if your reading here as well as Engadget. How much have you paid these guys?

Still waiting for a compelling reason to shell out $250 for a PSP. I keep wanting to buy one, but realize I'll won't use it. My room mates don't use theirs.

As for media, a DS, Moonshell, a Supercard CF, and a 1GB CF card does all that I need.

I've had the PSP Media Manager for a while now and I like it, although it is a bit quirky. Main points:

Media Manager takes a while to refresh its display of media such as photos on its display. This causes some minor frustration when digging through my music folder which has about 600 sub folders for each artist.

This works great with my video recordings made with Snapstream Beyond TV (An AWESOME PVR program for your computer.)www.snapstream.com I usually keep a few episodes of the Daily Show and Lost on my PSP. I record into wmv format and then let Media Manager re-encode. Video quality is great.

Do a search for vodcasts and you will find many sites that have free video rss feeds that will update onto your PSP video folder through media manager. www.pspmagazines.com has some great ones that will go into your photo folder.

I had the GBA Media Player and liked it when it was all there was. I also used it with the same Snapstream recordings. The PSP is a huge improvement other than the fact that it doesn't fit in my pocket as well. (or at all)

Media Manager does a nice job of showing you how big the file will end up being AFTER it is encoded onto the PSP. Takes the guess work out of filling up your gig.

When you use Media Manager to move music onto your memory card it creates a folder for each artist automatically. Since there isn't much space for music on my card, I prefer to have all the files together in the main music folder. So I use file explorer to move the music.

I had no installation problems.

Over all I would give this a 7.5 just because of the menu refreshing issue, and the automatic folder creation for music.

Just like a few of the other folks commenting, I think the reviewer didn't really use the software, I've probably used all the freeware tool available before I settled with Media Manager. I really like the way I can subscribe to new feeds

It's the primary mechanism I use for synching content to the PSP.

I've certainly used it to rip DVDs and transfer to the PSP directly, no problem there,

There is an additional feature under In Feeds, Directory, Cool Feeds, that gets updated for you. So new feeds as they're found are automatically added similar to iTunes,

Another feature he missed to mention is that on XP, if you already have iTunes installed like I have, You can see your iTunes music folder so you can drag and drop content from iTunes to PSP, meaning if you're comfortable with using iTunes as your primary content delivery mechanism stick to it.

If anyone is really interested, I've got a list of the feeds that automatically transfer to the PSP using the media manager here,

http://europe1.consider.biz/podcast/myfeeds.html

OPML Version Here

http://europe1.consider.biz/gm/document-1.9.3936/My%20Feeds.opml

You can also bookmark the first link directly on your PSP to subscribe to all the feeds directly and use the PSP as a Timeshifting Radio !

I've said it here before, a lot of folks that comment on this site are either pimpled kids that can't really engage all their brain or just too plain dumb to work out what a gadgets context of use is.

Besides, It's hard to believe some folks have ever used the PSP.

If you can't see beyond the PSP as a games platform forget it. Stop knocking Sony, when was the last time any of you got a feature filled firmware upgrade from Apple and Nintendo that actually added value to your original investment.

Ok, I know we have the likes of Fanjita to thank for homebrew hacks.

Yet you happilly shell out new cash on anything from St Jobs.

Smell the cofee guys...

I have the the psp media manager and everytime i try to run a large video file from my hard drive to the psp it will start get like to like 2% done if there were percents, and then i get an error and my program shuts down. everytime. why is that?

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Joystiq Review: PSP Media Manager 1.0

Reader Comments (23)

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