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| Datel 4GB Hard Drive for PSP Review | | Reviewer: Mark Taylor Introduction The PSP 's quest for Mass Storage
By now we all know that the PSP is a gateway to a whole lot of media fun, which is by enlarge restricted by the amount of space for storage. At the time of writing, the only 'official ' maximum storage space available is 2GB priced online priced in excess of $150 at many online retailers. This product has somewhat jumped ahead of raw mass storage technology for the PSP, but are the annoyances worth the additional space? Find out now!
Decisions, decisions...what to do with 4GB on my PSP
A hell of a lot is the answer. Just in-case you were unaware, the PSP offers a whole host of media compatibilities, the playback of MP3, Photo's, and MPEG-4 video's. Did someone mention MPEG-4 video? Why yes I did, a great feature of this product is that it plugs right into the Neuros MPEG-4 recorder 2 for PSP so in theory you have just under 10 HOURS of media ready to playback on your PSP. Alternatively if you aren't an eager beaver so to speak, Datel include some rather slick lookin' Max Media storage which will help you to convert your favorite movies into playable MPEG-4 format. The folks at Datel also forgot to mention a nice selling point of the product, it actually acts as a PSP stand as well which is great for watching all your media back on your desk! No doubt if you're in touch with the homebrew scene this new found storage space can come in heaps useful for emulators, roms and all the homebrew goodness. | | | Let's get building...
Datel's 4GB hard drive arrives in some relatively thin cardboard, with nothing more than a card holder holding together the contents of the product as a whole. I was a little disappointed to see the box slightly crumpled upon arrival. Included in the pack is the X2 PSP battery, USB 2.0 transfer cable, Max Media Manager software, user manuals and of course the 4GB hard drive attachment. There is some slight construction involved in giving your PSP 4GB of storage space. You will have to remove the original battery pack (Left hand side, back) and replace it with the X2 battery pack. This is very simple to do, you will also have to attach the hard drive component (Right hand side of the PSP) which very simply clips into two small holes on the PSP, I was incredibly surprised as to how solid the connection was it's like Sony are welcoming a device design like this with open arms! The UMD door is not obstructed at all, and it looks like the attachments have been designed with great precision in mind. The Memory stick duo dummy connector just slips into the memory stick slot on the PSP with no problems there. It uses a seemingly strong looking connector which has been improved since the early versions I hear. That 's it job is done! It should take anyone under five minutes install, and that 's without consulting the manual should be so brave ;). | | | Someone doesn't want us to play with 4GB unofficially...
Despite the attachments being relatively light, one can not feel that once installed the PSP becomes a bit of a high-school looking DIY project. Your PSP will now have new found depth (in the sense of the attached hardware) as well as being incompatible with the any respective carry cases and the like you may have purchased. The duo pro dummy adapter which is held in place via a spring adapter can eject if seemingly hard horizontal pressure is applied by the palms of your hand, thus disconnecting the hard drive. Ok now lets move onto something a little more positive on the design front, your PSP will now stand at a perfectly tilted angle ready for viewing any UMD video's or your MPEG-4 files. Some would argue that the extra physical depth added to the PSP makes it more comfortable for long periods of gaming, I beg to differ, it annoys me quite a bit and makes it feel like I 'm playing on some form of beta console for those of you perhaps with larger hands (No jokes please!) this may actually feel a bit more comfortable. Don 't get me wrong, the design is very innovative and robust but there are a few niggles as explained above. |  | Spin baby, spin!
The Datel 4GB hard drive consists of a Micro CF Drive housed in the sleek lookin' Max HDD attachment. The PSP will recognize the new found hard drive right away, reporting back 3,803 GB of new found territory for your pleasure. For any kind of format that's quite an ideal amount of space to have at your disposal, say hello to your new friend the MPEG-4 format. Now you can have around 10 hours of Video on your PSP, the Neuros Recorder 2 will report that there is approximately 600 hours of recording available from this device, pretty impressive! The Max Media manager software is again some sweet lookin' software, it is a video encoding program for your PSP in similar fashion to PSP video 9. The software will also allow you to construct the PSP file structure as well as transfer PSP game saves. | | | The read times are nowhere near as quick as they are on an official memory stick, consequently you will see that little orange light on your PSP flashing that little bit more! It took approximately five minutes to transfer 250MB of data to the PSP, around 50 seconds longer per 100MB of data than a memory stick. The lag is noticeable but certainly bearable. Again the hard drive does consume a lot of power, so it 's best to use it in conjunction with the X2 battery, not only for even weight distribution but playability time.
Are there any alternatives in my quest for Mass PSP Storage?
Well yes there is. The Neo Flash 4GB 2in1 converter device which we recently reviewed. Essentially based on the same concept, the product will stick to the dead center back of the PSP and offer 4GB of storage space via a micro drive. It will not add such hardware annoyance to the PSP either, but then again the Datel drive does have its ups with the movie stand, extra battery, solid connectors and supporting software. Alternatively you could wait for the more expensive official 4GB memory sticks to come out in about four grueling months from now, but again you will not get an extra battery, encoding software and so forth.
It does the job well
What must be said is that this product does do exactly what it says and in a strong fashion. Despite the extra bulk for your PSP, it is bearable bulk and when you watch it for watching UMD or MPEG-4 movies you will be thankful as it acts as a quality PSP stand! It is also compatible with the Neuros MPEG-4 recorder 2, which for me was a great bonus as now I can just record tones of my favorite shows directly onto the hard drive and ready for instant playback on my PSP, with no need for any conversion software like PSP video 9 or the software supplied by Datel. Currently this is a lot more cost effective than the memory sticks available now and most likely in the future; if you believe the detailed minor annoyances don 't escalate into major annoyances then you will be happy with a purchase.
Positives
+ 4GB storage for your PSP, max of 2MB from official memory sticks right now!
+ Innovative hardware design, very strong like it should 've been there all along.
+ Bundled transfer cable and encoding software
+ Cost effective
+ Compatibility with Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2
+ Acts as a cool movie stand
+ Low weight design
+ For some, the added hardware depth may provide extra comfort
Negatives
- Beefs up your PSP physically
- Less comfort with new found rough edges
- PSP becomes less portable
| | Buy Datel 4GB PSP HDD Now |
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