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Sony PSP Defects Reported
Among many to report on this issue, OneHungLo writes "GamesAreFun.com is reporting that several defective PSP units have been shipped, suffering from problems such as dead pixels, broken UMD drives, air bubbles in the screens, dust in the screens, and the analog "nubs" not working, or actually falling off. They also have a video of a UMD popping out of the PSP as it's running, due to the unit being twisted/turned. I wonder how long it will be until Sony issues an official statement about this?"
Version 1.0 of product xxx has problems!
I've seen the video... and read the articles... but I still don't believe it that much. Dead Pixels I believe. Even the DS has this problem(as did the GBA and GBASP). But I have yet to see anyone report problems of the nubs not working or their psp not turning on except on this one small site linking to another small site.
If this is an issue, I put it in the barrel of consumers causing the problem, or just being a very small number of people, below 1%.
The UMD popping out, seems a little odd. Twisting the unit, I can understand, I mean, it's a small portable device, I could do the same with my old walkman. But during normal play? I doubt it.
Here's some screenshots from the video, in case it gets slashdotted:
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(1) Square button's problema nbotsu_001.jpg a nbotsu_genin_002.jpg
_ 001.mpg
It makes a creaking noise and stucks
because there is a gap between the button and its rubber (and, of course, the board)
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cf6y-oot/controller/k
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cf6y-oot/controller/k
(3) Power failure and/or Chip defect
Power indicator light illuminates, but...
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cf6y-oot/system/power
Isn't buying a 1st gen. protable electronics device just begging for this kind of trouble?
Why poeple buy bleeding edge products is beyond me.
I don't understand this mentality. Why would buying a product that's presumably been tested and deemed ready for the marketplace be "begging for trouble", whatever "generation" it is?
In fact, going back through history you can find just as many examples where the first generation of something is built significantly better than the later generations. The Atari VCS, for example; the early models had 1/4" thick plastic and actual metal armor plating on the bottom of the casing - later models had much thinner plastic and no armor plating, they were much more prone to cracking.
I don't see why portables need to be any different. Companies build products, they market test them, and then they put them out there. The public is not a bunch of beta testers; they're supposed to be building in certain tolerances and you would hope that if they're going to err, they'll err on the side of caution (as Atari did with the early VCS).
I guess my point is twofold:
a) Our expectations for "first generation" products these days are too low, and
b) I think it's just as likely as not that later generation models will be worse as it is that they'll be better. You can't just look at the PS2 and Xbox as representative as the entire history of home and portable electronics; many devices do become less reliable as their production costs are cut back to save money down the line.
I have no idea if these PSP defects are widespread or if they're isolated incidents. There does seem to be a pattern, though, that suggests that in general, the PSP's build quality is probably not quite as good as many had expected, and I doubt that's ever going to change. Sony does not really have a history of redesigning products to be tougher. If there's an actual defect in the laser mechanism or something like that, then yes, they may do a minor redesign to correct errors (as they did with the PS2), but build quality is a different issue. They're not going to start using thicker plastic or reinforcing the unit with carbonized steel or do away with the "analog" nub - build quality issues are probably issues you'll just have to learn to live with. I'm sure Sony would tell you to just be more careful with the PSP.
As for the dead pixel issue, it's always a possibility in an LCD-based product, especially one with a fairly high-resolution display like this. You'd hope the warranty and/or return policy would cover it, but I guess the supply is such that stores in Japan are not accepting returns right now because of it. I doubt this problem is more widespread than on other LCD-based devices, though - this is a screen made by Sharp, which is one of the world's largest LCD producers. It's not as if they don't have experience making LCD displays.