PlayStation Portable (PSP-1000)_

Sony's first PSP was an ambitious attempt to bring PlayStation-style gaming into a handheld format. The PSP-1000 launched in Japan in 2004 with a 4.3-inch 480×272 display, a UMD drive and hardware powerful enough to deliver games that looked remarkably close to their console counterparts. The original model is noticeably thicker and heavier than the revisions that followed, giving it a more substantial feel but making it less comfortable to carry around for long periods. It also has 32MB of system RAM compared with the 64MB found in later models. That extra weight is part of the PSP-1000's character. The hardware feels distinctly early-2000s, complete with the proprietary Memory Stick format and the unusual UMD discs that made the PSP as much a multimedia device as a games console. Sony eventually refined nearly every part of the design, but the original remains the model that established the PSP and its library. For collectors and players interested in the history of Sony's handheld hardware, the PSP-1000 is the most distinctive of the three main revisions.