Want to buy a PSP

[mp]

Hi,

I'm brand new to all of this but am very interested in homebrewing a PSP.  I've never owned one before and am looking to buy.  My question is this, Is there any danger of a current PSP system being sold (say through Amazon) of having the 3.51 firmware?  Or will it most likely be 3.50?  Also, I'm planning on buying Lumines over ebay in order to do the downgrading.  Does this sound like the right way to begin my adventures in homebrew?  Thanks for any help, tips, advice, suggestions, etc.

mp

[Fanjita]

You might find it more cost effective to just buy a PSP that is already downgraded, a lot of the ebay sellers of new pre-downgraded PSPs are probably competitive with the price you'd pay for a PSP plus an ebayed copy of Lumines.  The advantage is that you'd be sure of getting the firmware you want.  It's certainly worth comparing the prices.

When buying new you're very unlikely to get 3.51, but it's probably possible now.  To boost your chances of not getting 3.51, try buying from a quiet local store - the fewer PSPs they sell, the more likely that they have older ones.  The other advantage of buying locally is that you'll get to inspect the PSP and be sure of the firmware revision.  You can find a guide at http://psp-homebrew.eu/faq/ that will give you a good guideline for determining the firmware version without having to open the box.

Good luck!

[wakaru]

I couldn´t tell for sure.

What I can tell is something I found in other forums, although I couldn´t tell how reliable because I never had to check it:

HOW TO DETERMINE THE FIRMWARE OUT OF THE BOX
===================================

[Last updated on July 8, 2006]

no letter = 1.0 (Japanese Release) 1.5 (North-American release) confirmed
A = 1.5 confirmed
B = 1.51 confirmed
C = 1.52 confirmed
D = 1.52 confirmed
E = 1.52 confirmed
F = 2.0 confirmed
G = 2.01 confirmed
H = 2.50 confirmed
I = 2.60 confirmed
K = 2.71 confirmed
L = 2.81 confirmed
M = 3.01 confirmed
N = 3.03 unconfirmed
O = 3.10 unconfirmed
P = 3.11 confirmed
R = 3.40 confirmed


HOW TO DETERMINE A TA-082+ OUT OF THE BOX
================================

The pictures says it all:

"WS259" means the psp has a TA-079 or TA-081 Motherboard. (Old type motherboards)

"SS259" means the psp has a TA-082 or TA-086 Motherboard. (Newer type motherboards)

Both are downgradable as long as they are 3.50 or lower.


====================

I hope this helps

EDIT: Fanjita, you beat me posting  

[mp]

Thanks for your quick replies.  I appreciate it.  I think I'll float around on ebay for a bit and see what I can churn up.

mp

[Guerillero]

it would also be wise to just go to ur local gaming store, and check out their new psp's, price dropped and now they are 135 i think. just read the date of manufacture on the box and if its older than 4 months it should have 3.11. my friend got his last week and it had 3.03 on it. it really doesnt matter because their will always be a downgrade if u wait.

[Naruto15]

yeah but just dont ask the people what fw it is the conversation would get suspiciously noticible that you might end up getting asked alot of questions about what your going to do with it.

[Yue]

yeah but just dont ask the people what fw it is the conversation would get suspiciously noticible that you might end up getting asked alot of questions about what your going to do with it.

Personally, I haven't had that kind of problem where in Japan. I've bought 2 PSP for downgrading, and in both stores I asked to check the system version. I was surprised when the lady at one of the shops told me "Yes, you can downgrade this 1.50. A lot of people come looking for a downgradable PSP"  

She also knew about piracy. That's a good seller