Turn your PSP into a 20-gig PMP

DAPreview has done some groundwork to test out the possibility of using the Cowon iAudio X5 as a portable hard drive to freshen up content on your PSP, via its support for USB On-the-Go. This USB Host functionality lets you connect the two devices directly to share files without the need for a computer intermediary. The transfer between the two works just as expected, although hasn't been tested with large files to see how practical this might be in terms of transfer time. Even so, it would still be a handy way to swap content in and out while travelling, out and about, or even at home without needing to tie up a whole machine in the process.

[Jason Bainbridge @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

So lets me get this straight, to use the PSP as a viable Personal Media Player you need to carry around another PMP and this is useful how exactly?

[DelTroZee @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Can this be used to store personal files(i.e. movies...) and view them on the PSP instead of having to drop too much money on Duo Pro memory?

[The dude @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

it isn't.

[nathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

hey ENGADGET!!!!
you know iRiver H320 have the same function too

[Tim @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Hahahah see above comments. This is the dumbest thing I've seen in a long time.

[Cameron @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

This could be interesting, if someone could figure out how to use a portable USB hard drive with a PSP, and develop a media browser app, the PSP could finally make a really nice PMP. And this does make sense to do, even with the Cowon player. Look at the PSP screen and then look at the Cowon screen, which would you rather watch a movie on?

[matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

#6: if you want to pay $500+ how about... a laptop computer?! at the price of a PSP ($250) and one of these media players ($300-350), you could buy a a laptop computer for not much more. yeah, they're a lot bigger, and don't last nearly as long, but it seems silly to carry around two devices that do the same thing.

[JJ @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

You know, I could buy this '85 Honda Civic and then go out of my way to drop $60k on stylish bodyparts and a new engine or I could buy a brand new car that was designed to do what I want for $50k.

Point is, if you want a PMP, buy a PMP. If you want a PSP, buy a PSP. It would be nice if the PSP had a SD slot or if Sony hadn't decided against making it an open platform.

Personally, I don't care. I am just sick of the "the PSP is the greatest thing evaaar - you just need to buy this and that and add that and than you need this cable and that software and then you use the Wipeout browser and then you set up a http daemon on your non-WPA WLAN and you do this and then you do that but it's really perfect" stuff.

Sony didn't just give the PSP away. It was supposed to have that functionality out-of-the-fucking-box.

I'll a few months to see how Nokia does. If the N770 turns out to be as interesting as it seems, I'll pick one up. If not, I simply won't. It's not like a owe Sony or Nokia anything. I'm a paying customer. Sometimes I think that a few people on here have a hard time getting their heads around that concept.

[Paul @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

doesn't the iaudio already play music and video by itself?

[Frangible @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

You can tell who the insecure iPod fanbois are. This isn't dumb at all, guys-- you can fit a ton of movies on the hard drive then dump them to a memory stick individually to watch on the PSP's nice, big screen. This would be very handy if you owned both devices already.

[Tim O. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

So I have this portable USB 2.0 hard drive coming in a few days, and I am planning on keeping mpeg4 DVDs from my DVD collection. Can I keep all of them on it then view them on the PSP? That would be the best!

[kaveh zivari @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

other than playing music and movie posibility, there is a huge possibility for someone to play cracked UMD files in psp... i remember an article in engadget saying something about someone extracking the UMD disk... does anyone remember? or better, has anyone tried this?

[FierceDeityLink1 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

#5: I dunno, that PSP + JunxionBox was pretty lame (and obvious information)

#11: No. "This USB Host functionality lets you connect the two devices directly to share files without the need for a computer intermediary."

[daaper @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

#10, I was thinking the exact same thing. Why are we talking about spending $300 on a media player just for the hard drive? #11 has got it, just buy a 2.5" 40 gig USB hard drive for $80 and use that. So you have to take the HD with you? It's still smaller and cheaper than buying a laptop and you don't have to drag the HD everywhere...keep it in your suitcase/desk.whatever, drop movies on the stick, and go. Seems pretty simple to me...

[TVtheFleshtone @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

#16, problem is, the hard drive isn't very portable, as it probably can't be bus powered. And if it is, it'll eat up the PSP's battery pretty fast. However, if the hard drive had it's own battery, that might be ideal.

[trunkzz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

you still need a fairly decent sized memory stick.

it's just hot swappiing between the mp3 player and the psp's mem stick.

it would be better if the psp had USBOTG browser, to access stuff off UMS devices and etc.

[KorinFox @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

The power drain on both devices must be a killer if you're doing this on the run.

[aliask @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

As #4 pointed out, the iRiver H300 series also has this USBOTG feature, so the technology isn't new, its been around for maybe a year...
I own a H340, and it's a pretty useful feature, whether it be getting Mp3's off a friend at school, or backing up USB keys, it does a pretty good job.
As for hooking it up to a PSP, I don't think I'd bother, as you would have to have a large (1GB+) MemoryStick for this to watch full movies, which really the only place where the PSP is going to be better.

[Jason Bainbridge @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

11. Imagine if for the iPod to be a good MP3 player you needed to carry around something like a Creative Zen to copy the next couple of hours of songs you want to listen to, what would you say about that?

People are touting how wondeful and portable the PSP is but for me it is failing in the portability test it is an absolute pain to carry around, put it in a Logitech case, add some UMD's along with the charger (as you never know how long the battery will last) and you have quite a lot of bulk.

Comapred to my DS, where I can put both a DS and a GBA cartridge in it and then throw it in my bag, adding my iPod for music still leaves less bulk than the PSP alone.

[Farhan Hafetz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

sorry, but the DS is huge next to the PSP. not saying that the PSP is small, but DS is like twice the size when opened.

[Toshiya @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

This has been done with iRiver`s H320/H340 since the PSP`s launch.. nothing new here...

[Chris Kalan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

The whole point is for people who want a hard drive player and a portable gaming device. That's why it is great for movies, especially for those on planes, trains, and automobiles (wow, I never thought I would actually say that) because it is not like you have to carry both things.

[barb dybwad @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

The point is, lots of folks have both a PSP and a DAP, and if your DAP supports USB host you can get some extra functionality of it. If you don't have a PSP or a DAP with USB host, then this won't be of interest to you. There's no need to throw negative energy out into the world about it, though -- you can just move along to the next post that interests you.

[Jason Bainbridge @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

20. So? You don't throw your DS in your bag when opened do you?

[Carl @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

"But you can already do that on the DAP anyway!"

How retarted are you... Both devices have independent powersouce; thus its not going to immediately drain power lifetime, and for those of use that have an iPod or the like, this would be perfect if you could play OFF THE HDD... but even without that function it is still pretty damn cool. I got a 512 card a few weeks after I got my psp, at Fry's Electronics it cost me 39bucks... that is not bad for those saying "It takes 100$+ to get a decent card", you people just need to learn howto shop.. and I hate saying that for somewhat obvious reasons.. but come on; Fry's Electronics are all having HUGE sales this weekend for Memorial Day, they have sales like every other week..

I personally just upgraded my pocket drive, but I also have an ipod, it would be incredible to have this functionality, there isnt a reason for Sony not to squeeze money out of us from making us buy some software or upgrade to let you... might not be as much as they would WANT to make from mem sticks.. but no one buys Sony branded mem sticks.. they cost literally twice as much as SanDisk's and Lexar's for the same capacity..

This is a perfectly logical hack-to-be.

[[e-mail] @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I've been waiting for this to come out for the exact same reason. It may not be completely useful, but you could swap files from a cheap thumb drive or a card reader.

http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_device/syncbox2.html

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

The intriguing idea here is that, with a massive hard drive attached, you could copy (assumoing the hacks emerge) GAMES from the UMD's and store them on the hard drive. Then, start swapping them on torrent...

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Once the PSP is fully hacked I see no reason why one couldn't use the top USB connector with a cheap memory key. Hell you can get 1GB keys for next to nothing now or plug an external 2.5/1.8' HD into that puppy. Until that happens I'll hold off. I can't imagine spending $300 just so I can swap movies to my PSP. Seems extremely counter productive to me. With that said, I already own an Archos AV420.

[Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I can do something like this now and it works perfectly, I have an RCA LYRA RD2780 which is a PMP, first gen though, but it also has a CF card slot on top. I picked up a CF to MS adapter on E-Bay and can just swap files back and forth from it onto my duo stick just fine.

[john m @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Why do companies limit the capabilities of their products?

[nate @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

does anyone know if you can use usb harddrives with the psp? if so ill just drop fifty bucks on a 2.5 or 2 inch drive.

[szkud @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

not much more useful than just swapping to your laptop, but perhaps if you could tie it in to an iPod it'd be more useful

[chinolofus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

you people are idiots....you act like they are showing off a new product to add on to the psp. they are showing you a nice option that you can do if you want to add an external hd. nobody is forcing you to do it...its an OPTION! personally when traveling,i see this as great idea.

[T1K1 F1SH @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

If you travel alot sure its a great idea but other than that I can't see much use for it, but if it was a a MUCH smaller add on itd be pretty cool.

[Ted @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I just looked at the title of that post and it occured to me: what if you were someone from last century/someone who didn't know a thing about technology. That title would make absolutely no sense. " PSP 20-gig PMP "
LoL!

[nxsfan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

A lot of people seem to be missing the point that the external storage requires USB Host functionality. This means that almost all cheapo external hard drives or thumbsticks etc will not work. There aren't many usb storage devices that offer usb host functionality.

[Joseph @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

#22 has got it completely correct.

I already carry a 60 gig MP3 player with me wherever I go. I'm also soon to buy a 200 and something gig USB hardrive to carry with me a lot of the time. If I bought a PSP it would be great to be able to make some of that space useable to the other device.

As 22 says, if you already carry around a lot of storage space, this thing will be the best. All you flamers out there are so hypocritical - I bet you are the same guys that creamed your pants when somebody "discovered" that the ipod could have an operating system booted off it. This news report is alond similar levels of "well, duh" and will be of interest to a lot of people. Stop being gay with your "but I don't own either of them" comments. I don't own the international space station, but that doesn't mean that I flame every news article I ever read about it. You retards.

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Great point JJ.

Look -IF- you have the hardware to connect up like that I say go for it.
If that setup is working for the person then cool, I think it's very very neat to interface stuff. Incredibly neat.
However, I don't have that kind of scratch.

The PSP is really cumbersome doing anything other than what Sony intended it to do. Period.

It's an entertainment device, and Sony is going to try to tell owners what entertainment they are going to get on it.
Anything other than that, and it's going to be a big, cumbersome kludge. It already is.

It far outstrips my TH55 in gaming and movies, but -=real world usefulness?=-
Please. It's a distractor if nothing else. Still just a toy.

[golf7 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

well, what type of cable would be required for this. Because i have a iriver h340 (1.28k firmware) and it has USB OTG and i would love to use that 40 gigs of space with a PSP. would you just plug the cable directly into both devices, or would you have to get a "box" of some sort that adds the usb power to one of the devices?

[MITCH @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Cant u just do the same thing with this
http://homepage.mac.com/techedgeezine/2004-0624_syncbox2.htm
and this
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312391&pfp=SEARCH

[MITCH @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_device/syncbox2.html
that is the newer version of the prervious product i posted

[MITCH @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

good price on a 1 gb duo pro
http://www.techonweb.com/products/productdetail.aspx?id=B46414&src=FG

[Cullen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

people are saying this would be good for traveling? how exactly would you use this while 'traveling'? you mean you would wait until youre out and doing sometihng to transfer movies to your psp? no, i dont think you would. youd do it at home and then go o9ut and realize..umm..wtf do i need movies on my psp for? and as someone else said, it needs usb HOST functionality, most devices dont have it. so dont think youre going to go buy a little 2.5 enclosure and have a psp hdd :p this whole thing furthers my opinion that psp owners are trying so hard to find something about this that makes it worthwhile. listen to some of the comments here, you people are sounding almost desperate. youll still need to buy hugely expensive memory sticks, the thing still uses umd, and your screen still has 6 dead pixels. now itll have a shit battery life, as this is sure to eat your batteries alive.
good luck.

[daaper @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Hey nxsfan, does that mean that the USB device has to "recognize" the PSP and not the other way around for the transfer to work? The PSP won't just see the HD as an external storage device?

[jake @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

instant PMP, just add PMP!

[Tyme @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

my ti-84+ has usb on the go, but the transfers always cancel right away...

[golf7 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

What type of usb cord would you use to do such a transfer? Because i wanna do this with my iriver h340

[Alt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Seeing as I am already an x5 owner and not a PsP owner this has made me look into the merits of the PsP. The merits of the x5 are ogg and flac support along with USB hosting ability. The hosting ability is the key to compatability with the PsP as the harddrive needs to "see" the PsP to be able to uplode in this case.

This is a great idea for movies (and hopefully games in the future), but the PsP dosent have ogg or flac support, so the x5 can still be used for the things that its made for.This article did a great job at pointing out how the two devices compliment each other.

[Ian_Dass @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Kind of a funny learn by trial and error story:

So the other day it was nice and sunny on campus. I was coming out of the library and had a couple of hours to kill. I had just gotten my PSP the night before, so I decided to sit out in the nice weather and watch Kill Bill on my PSP. So I whip it out and get it going, or I should say TRIED to get it going. The sun glare on the thing was un-friggin-believable. I ended up having to empty my backpack and put it on my head to block the sun. Luckily I have a fairly big backpack, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. I did start feeling dizzy about the time Uma was kicking ass in the club with Lucy Liu. The good news is that I didn't pass out, but the bad news is that the battery died on me. I played with it after it did its initial charge for a little bit, but the movie watching must suck the juice right out of the thing. I just decided to save the ending for when I get home...on my DVD player.

I've since sent a letter to Sony suggesting that they incorporate a solar panel in their screen, since it seems to do so well reflecting/absorbing light rays.

[urbus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

i had no problem watching hellboy under a nice shady tree at the park on sunday and still had time to play wipeout for a half hour waiting for my wife to finish work.
then we went for lunch