1 dead pixel doesn't seem like such a big deal. And if all you do with your PSP is play mostly darkly-lit action games, it isn't even noticible.
But I do more with my PSP(s) than just games... I watch lots of video, and look at photos... and that's when the 1 dead pixel can really annoy. It's a bit more than just the same as having a piece of dust on the screen, because even though it's "dead", it IS backlit. So it shows up more than dust does.
And as shown in the pic, WHERE that 1 dead pixel is can be really distracting.
So, the PSP I got back after sending my broken one in has a dead pixel. It's very weird, because pixels are either dead (just go black) or stuck (stay a certain colour). But in this case, it would get stuck, but sometimes go back to blending in with the rest of the screen; work as normal, basically. I've never seen or heard of that before.
But I figure it was only a matter of time before it died and stayed permanently black.... and it looks like that's happened. Dead pixels are annoying, even if it's only one. You still notice it when watching video.
I've owned 5 PSPs, and 4 of them have had pixel or screen problems. 4 out of 5 PSPs. And the ONE PSP that didn't have screen problems is the one that had the UMD drive problem. Have I mentioned what a shitty company Sony is? Not today, I guess.
#1•PSP fat bought in May 2006, had 3 dead pixels, 2 were clumped together. I took it back a couple days later & exchanged it for another PSP.
#2•Replacement PSP has 1 blue stuck pixel. I decided to cut my losses & stick with it, who knows what the next exchanged PSP would've been like.
#3•PSP Slim bought Oct 9, 2007 (launch day for the Star Wars white PSP) no dead pixels, I was *so* shocked & happy.... then 3 months later, UMD drive started acting up.
#4•PSP Slim bought in July, 2008 (same white SW model) got it from Blockbuster video, which doesn't take returns AT ALL.... but I got it fairly cheap ($150.00) There's a speck of red paint or something underneath the screen. I know it's not a stuck pixel because I can see it when the PSP is turned off. It effectively looks/acts the same as a dead pixel though. I've barely used this PSP, so a pixel problem could show up down the road (part of why I'm afraid to use it much) so I'm not sure if I should sell it on eBay or what. I definitely don't need 2 PSP Slims.
#5•Replacement from the first PSP Slim I bought with the UMD troubles... my "main" PSP... now has a stuck pixel.
The PSP is notorious for having a really high dead pixel rate. I know that dead/stuck pixels can happen with ALL LCD screens, there are small rates of such in all LCD screens. But with the PSP, it's much higher than the average. Obviously it's still a problem even though they've come out with newer PSPs, the PSP-2000 (PSP Slim) and I'm sure the dead pixel problem will continue with the PSP-3000. Sony likes to cut corners.
The only upside to my latest dead pixel is that it came on gradually, easing me into the inevitablity of its demise. It still really bums me out though. I can only hope it doesn't get worse.
Update on my PSP repair. So, I mailed in my PSP Slim to MTC, which is a 3rd party repair depot that services Sony products in Canada. They have 2 depots, one in Ontario I believe, for the eastern part of Canada, and one in Coquitlam for the west, which is where I sent mine.
This is a video of my PSP with the problem:
(yeah that's my hand)
They have a web site where you can keep track of your repair status, so I kept checking in on how it was doing.
Coquitlam isn't that far from me, so I knew it would only take 1 day to mail it.
For 2 weeks, it said "Waiting for test"..... then in the 3rd week it changed to "Waiting for Exchange unit", (I think they were waiting for Sony to send them a replacement) then "Exchange unit picked"... and about 3 weeks after mailing it in, I got a PSP back!
I'm pretty sure it's not the same one I mailed, the serial number's different. I assume it's a refurbished PSP, but it feels like new. No scratches, the USB port is stiff like it's never been used... but it could still be refurbished I guess. They sent it back in the same box I mailed to them. There was no communication with them at all, but since they did what they were supposed to, guess there didn't need to be.
So for the last couple weeks, I've been "testing" my new PSP, being forced to make sure it's in good working conditions by playing games on it as much as I can... oh yeah, it's tough but I'm a trooper, hehe. Been playing Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron on it lots, because that game was malfunctioning on my PSP quite a bit before I sent it in (and it's my fave game) but I've also been playing games that use the UMD drive a lot, like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. So far, everything's good.[EDIT: Just found 1 dead pixel... popped up this morning, near the center of the screen. Crap... I knew I shouldn't've spoken too soon....]
When you buy a product from Sony, they have a 1 year warranty. I basically waited almost that year to send it in, and now my replacement model has a 90 day warranty. I kind of feel like I have 90 days to see if I can break it.... it works great now, but I'm always wary of refurbished product.
The PSP Slim, A.K.A. PSP-2000, is a bit of an advancement over the original PSP A.K.A. PSP-1000. But I'm sure that a big part of it was also for Sony to cut manufacturing costs. They replaced whatever they could that was metal with plastic, and the biggest change is the UMD disc door. On the PSP-1000, the door is spring loaded to eject, and there's a metal tray that holds the UMD firmly in place. Back in 2005, Sony was (rightfully) concerned with making their portable device play discs without skipping and can stand up to travel.
On the PSP-2000, the door is now manually opened, and there's no metal tray. The UMD just flops against the door until it's shut!
I'm not sure how common this UMD drive problem is with the PSP Slim... but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a higher than normal failure rate. When you think about it, it's only been out for a bit more than a year. I suspect a lot of people put up with it. Unlike my original PSP door, which is tight when closed, the PSP Slim doors move quite a bit, they jiggle. That can't be good. Definitely feels cheap.
I think the PSP Slim isn't quite as sturdy as the old PSP. It's just another reason why I've grown to *HATE* Sony, particularly their PlayStation division. I *LOVE* the PSP, but I hate Sony, they're really degrading their quality, and driving what was once a good PlayStation brand, into the ground.
My original PSP was bought in May 2006, and it still works fine 2 years later. My PSP Slim started malfunctioning 3 months after I bought it in Oct 2007... so I wonder how long this replacement will last. And with the PSP-3000 coming out in a couple months, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony found another way to cut their costs and skimp on some more quality.
A couple days ago, I got "my" PSP Slim back from being repaired. I'll post more about that later, but now I just finished off applying an Invisible Shield brand screen protector to it.
Ugh... aside from the included solution spray bottle being empty, I think it went well... but installing Invisible Shield screen protectors is always a nerve-wracking experience. This is my 3rd time.
The key to a good install is to use lots of water-- I know that doesn't SOUND like a good combination with your electronic device. But you have to be willing to let the device sit, turned off, for at least 24 hours in case any water might have gotten inside.
Here's a post from my first time Invisible Shield install, on my first PSP back in 2006:
Invisible Shield PSP I just installed the Invisible Shield on my Sony PSP.
It's a pretty thick looking piece of clear rubber. I wondered how this could go on "invisible", but I've seen numerous pictures of them on devices, and they do look good. And once it slides on the PSP it really does become nearly invisible. But there's a rubbery texture to it that you can feel. Gives it a bit of grip, but definately different than the ultra-smooth feel of the naked PSP.
At first I followed all the instructions to the letter; using the spray to wet my fingers, got all the equipment ready, prepped my enviroment like a surgeon-- did everything I could to make sure it was as dust & lint free as possible.
But as I put the Invisible Shield down on the PSP, there were a lot of bubbles left underneath, that I couldn't squeegee out. And then I ran out of spray! They don't give you very much.
Luckily I had a backup plan; after doing a LOT of reading about the IS & peoples installations (mostly of iPods) I thought I should have a container of soapy water on hand in case the spray didn't do it.
What I did was I took the IS off the PSP, and dunked it in a tupperware container full of water with just a drop of dish soap in it. I used a tupperware lid that gave me a depth of about 2 cm.
Then I lightly scraped off the Invisible Shield (both sides) on the edge of the tupperware container, so there still quite a bit of water on it, but it wasn't dripping.
Reapplying it to the PSP was much easier, it was easier to move it around on top of the PSP (almost too easy, it slipped once or twice, gotta be careful if you have things lined up correctly) and it was much easier to squeegee out the bubbles underneath.
It looked good, but now that I've given it about 15 minutes, I think there's a spot, I don't know if it's a bubble or lint or what, that's still on my screen. Crap. I've tried squeegeeing it out, even though I think it reduced it, it's still there, don't think it's a bubble. Does look smaller though.
You're supposed to wait 24 hours before turning on your device, but I had to see what it looked like on the screen, and how the Invisible Shield looked in general. It does seem that the Invisible Shield changes the look of the screen somewhat. Maybe it's just me, and it hasn't fully dried yet so maybe it will become less noticible once it does.
Now to just wait it out for at least 3 days, hopefully things will look great by then.
So.... I just finished boxing up my PSP Slim to ship it out tomorrow to get it serviced.
I bought my Darth Vader white PSP Slim the day it came out, Oct.9, 2007. I was pretty amazed how light & good it felt over my old one.
But since early this year, I've been having this problem with the UMD drive; when I have a disc in but not playing, the drive would start up randomly, even though I was doing other things like watching video or listening to music off of the memory stick. Basically the drive was "resetting", it's thinking that the drive door is being opened and a new UMD is put inside, so it starts up again... at random.
This seems like it might be a minor inconvenience, but it does it while I'm playing a game. So what happens is that the grey "Do you want to quit the game?" screen will pop up in the middle of playing, at random.
I taped a snippet of it, this is my PSP:
It's been getting worse & worse, and now it basically happens almost all the time.
I finally broke down & called Sony last week about it. The 1 year warranty covers Canada, but it's not the same program as in the U.S. In the U.S., if you need to send in your PSP I think Sony sends out a mailing box for you to send it in, then they replace your PSP with a refurbished one. I assume they fix your PSP and send it to the next guy who sends in a broken PSP.
But in Canada, they have a 3rd party repair depot that fixes PSPs, and presumably sends the same one back to the owner. I have to pay to ship it to them, then they pay to ship it back to me. They don't send me no box! Oh well.
So I've tried to box it up as carefully as I could, I wrapped it up in layers & layers of packing paper, and tried to make sure nothing jiggles around in the box. I hope it arrives ok, I did write "fragile" on the box but knowing Canada Post, I'm sure they'll ignore that.
I took off my Invisible Shield screen protector. Since putting one on my first PSP, this has been my go-to brand of screen protector. They have a lifetime replacement policy, you send back the old one & they apparently send you a new one. But I've never had reason to take off the IS on my old PSP, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. It went pretty well. It's like a thick sticker, I was surprised how securely it stuck to the screen as I peeled it back. There was no residue left on the screen either, which many people have concerns about. So I'll have to mail that back to them eventually.
I also included a CD-R with the above video, and gave them the YouTube link if they need to see what the problem is (in addition to me telling them in the letter)
The turnaround is supposed to be about 7 business days... so I figure at least 2 weeks. Man. I really love my PSP. Like REALLY LOVE it. It's my favourite console, because it does so much more than gaming. I originally bought my first PSP in 2006 as an mp3 player primarily, with games being secondary. But I never realised how cool & multi-functional the PSP was, and I've used it almost every day since May 2006.
I hope they fix the problem & it comes back to me as good as new. Worried.......
