PSP Brite diagnosed with lower battery life expectancy

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 29th 2008 at 7:30PM }

It happens to all battery-operated devices that burn too bright. They die so young. Oh PSP Brite, it was just 3 short hours ago when we powered you on, cradling your Slim body in our palms, eyes numbing from the vibrant images dancing upon your screen. And then, you went dark. (Well, that's how we're imagining it at least.)

PSP know-it-all John Koller has diagnosed the new PSP model with short-term battery disorder. Koller estimates PSP Brite will burn through its charge 20-30 minutes faster than current PSP-2000 series units. That's not a good thing, you know. Luckily, Sony's bringing back "the bulge" (the now-discontinued extended battery) to combat the crippling disorder. We hear playing close to a power outlet also helps to ease the symptoms.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Tags: battery, battery-life, psp-3000, psp-brite

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

syrik zero @ Aug 29th 2008 7:38PM

I'm still excited to buy one.... Can't wait

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Aug 29th 2008 7:38PM

I don't get it. Smaller, less battery life? You think in the effort to make the system smaller (goes for all systems that have similar problems), they would find a way to make it have the same life as the bulkier counterpart.

UnderLines @ Aug 29th 2008 7:47PM

They are comparing it to the 2000 which is the same size as the brite. I thought the 2000 actualy had a better life then the 1000 which was the biggest of the three.

It's not suprising a brighter screen takes more battery....if you don't like it hit the square button on the bottom and turn down the screen brightness. problem solved.

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Aug 29th 2008 7:53PM

Fair enough.

NaeemTHM @ Aug 29th 2008 7:39PM

Hmmmm....brighter screen or better battery life. Decisions, Decisions. Oh I know!

*continues to play DS*

GearSecond!! (a.k.a AwesomeStuff) @ Aug 29th 2008 8:46PM

That's a no-brainer :P

BigD145 @ Aug 29th 2008 9:55PM

*continues to play DS with Datel battery for 20 hours without a charge*

Noshino @ Aug 29th 2008 10:41PM

Yup, continue playing even if you finally got a claw hand, because Sleep Mode on the DS is a no no...

Deviation @ Aug 29th 2008 8:02PM

20-30 minutes is an incredibly small price to pay for a screen without streaks. Not to mention the additional brightness and better colors.

Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Aug 29th 2008 8:04PM

The solution is so simple, just turn the brightness down by one setting!

Since the screen is supposed to be brighter than the 1000 and 2000 series, a notch lower should be the same brightness as on the 1000 and 2000 at max and so should attain the same battery life as well.

Am I right?

Superstar90 @ Aug 29th 2008 11:00PM

so why buy the 3000 then?

Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Aug 30th 2008 2:05AM

For the built in microphone, anti-glare screen and you have the option of turning up the brightness, but when you need the battery power, just lower the brightness to what the 1000 and 2000 series have.

KeenCommander @ Aug 29th 2008 8:29PM

Wouldn't bother me, I never play mine outside of my bedroom - or occasionally a hotel. But, honestly, I don't have a problem with the current screen - and I don't play it half enough to ever warrant buying another one.

Al2x @ Aug 29th 2008 8:32PM

Since day one the only time I needed to take the PSP's screen up a brightness is if I'm playing it on the beach or at a park or somewhere in the sun. Otherwise, I believe the screen is just fine at the lowest setting. I'm talking about the original PSP, and at the battery's prime, i was able to get at least 5 hours of gaming in.

Now I have the gold stamina battery, where I've gotten about 8 hours of play. Sure, nowhere near how many hours my DS lives up to, but sufficient enough to hold until the next charge. BTW, I'm one of those absolute freaks who enjoys playing PSP much more than the DS. Definitely a minority here.

Safiel @ Aug 29th 2008 8:38PM

This is what I figured would happen when the 3000 was described. Brightness and a faster refresh aren't free, you need better more efficient technology or you're looking at throwing processing power at it which costs battery life.

What disappoints me is, Sony is going to start making more higher capacity batteries. What they should do instead is ship the 3000s with the these batteries instead of forcing them to be purchased separately. Then the consumer is just getting the cool new stuff without loosing out to the older models when it comes to other features.

GearSecond!! (a.k.a AwesomeStuff) @ Aug 29th 2008 8:42PM

I dunno guys... it could look as fancy as it wants but lower battery power still smells like FAIL imo.

Noshino @ Aug 29th 2008 10:46PM

the smell is not coming out of the PSP tho...so ya, it MIGHT be you

JCD @ Aug 29th 2008 8:52PM

I'm just dying to know, outside of cross-country plane rides or car trips, how often are you going to play any handheld for 3 solid hours without a charge? Hell, in the car you have a cigarette lighter, so you don't even need batteries there.

Not a sony fanboy (I think they've made bouku mistakes with psp), just someone dying to understand the h8 . ..

Psaakyrn @ Aug 29th 2008 9:52PM

It's easy.
a) Play at work.
b) Play during multiple trips of no downtime.
c) Forget to charge.

SuperGayParade @ Aug 29th 2008 9:24PM

I'm a critical nobody online that is cautious of anything beyond the norm.

Josh @ Aug 29th 2008 9:54PM

Oh yeah, I forgot that the PSP is barely a portable system.

Psaakyrn @ Aug 29th 2008 9:58PM

Just bgecause it's not a pocket system doesn't make it non-portable. Laptops are portable, and much larger.

KeenCommander @ Aug 29th 2008 10:28PM

It's portable, but I don't think it's effective as a portable game system. I mean, are you going to use your laptop to play games on the train? The widescreen is a killer, it's gorgeous to look at, but it makes the system way too big and awkward.

Noshino @ Aug 29th 2008 10:45PM

you have never hold one have you?

I have spent countless hours playing on a PSP while on the train, bus, plane...

awkward? how so? the shape is more ergonomic than that of the DS! I end up with my hands hurting almost as much as with arcades...

Josh @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:33PM

I was talking about battery life.

Roto13 @ Aug 29th 2008 11:01PM

Less battery life than the PSP?

Is that... is that even possible?

Lekko @ Aug 31st 2008 2:38AM

Actually, if you put the PSP in the same bag as any other portable device, it reduces each device's own battery life by 5%.

However, you gain one quarter bar of reception on any wireless device. Nobody knows why.

JRM @ Aug 29th 2008 11:14PM

I hope this news isn't true, but boy would it be typical of Sony: taking one step forward and two steps back.

10 years ago, I used to love everything Sony; TVs, CD players, Games, Walkmans... Where did they go wrong?

Noshino @ Aug 29th 2008 11:17PM

wait wait, how is it that taking merely 30 mins of battery life is 2 steps back? have you seen the difference between the screens? hell, it was more than clear from the getgo that that would take much more power, I thought it would be between 1 to 2 hrs...

BigD145 @ Aug 30th 2008 1:21AM

1 to 2 hours lost would have killed all portability as you walked out the door. Two steps back would quickly have become two feet in the grave.

JRM @ Aug 30th 2008 2:45AM

two steps back in the sense that upgrades in tech generally increase in features, efficiency, and so forth. In this case, not only does this new PSP not improve in battery life, but actually uses more of it. I can't imagine a new car coming out that gives you less mileage, a slower engine, or smaller tires.

When the DS lite came out, not only did they brighten two screens, but increased battery life almost 40%. And this was 3+ years ago!

Pretty embarrasing for sony whichever way you look at it.

Noshino @ Aug 30th 2008 9:34AM

BigD145

My PSP used to last about 6 hrs or so, I would be more than happy to have the PSP last 5 hrs at the max settings with such an amazing screen.

"two steps back in the sense that upgrades in tech generally increase in features, efficiency, and so forth. In this case, not only does this new PSP not improve in battery life, but actually uses more of it. I can't imagine a new car coming out that gives you less mileage, a slower engine, or smaller tires."

The problem is, on your car analogy you are disregarding the fact that the "downside" is at the cost of a better experience, and also, once again, the changes can't be radical because this STILL the PSP1

"When the DS lite came out, not only did they brighten two screens, but increased battery life almost 40%. And this was 3+ years ago!"

So what? the DS screens are nothing compared to the DS's... I have seen screens that have better graphics than my DS's, and they were even older than 3 years!

Not only that, guess what, if I put my PSP on sleep mode, it actually works, while the DS's sleep mode is god awful, more so if you play GBA games on it...

Seriously, don't bring the DS to compare it to the PSP, because you will always lose