Sony seems to be out in full-force promoting the PSP Go. Just one week before the system is scheduled to launch across the globe, Sony Europe has encouraged existing PSP owners to upgrade by promising three downloadable games for free. So, what do you think? Will PSP owners upgrade to the system? Read on! This is the Editor’s Choice for this week.

Product Summary:

The good:

For starters, Sony has removed the UMD media slot and opted instead for 16GB of internal storage. It’s also shrunk the screen from 4.3 inches (diagonally) to 3.8 inches while maintaining the same resolution at 480×272 pixels and its wide-screen aspect ratio. Also, the Sony-proprietary Memory Stick Pro Duo slot has been swapped out for the smaller M2 Micro memory card slot. And finally, a slider mechanism has been incorporated to hide the controls when not in use and it now comes with Bluetooth for syncing with headsets.

The bad:

First of all, it’s expensive – despite lack of touch screen and second analog stick. The position of the display controls, analog stick, and volume is gauche. Users would not be able to play UMD games or use old PSP accessories and finally, the battery’s no longer removable, meaning no chance to bring a replacement for longer trips.

Bottom line:

If you’re an existing PSP owner and planning to upgrade, think again. Yes, the PSP Go is a sleek and sexy design, but its high price tag and some frustrating caveats is something to think about.

Specifications:

Size & Weight

* Approximately 128 mm (W) x 69 mm (H) x 16.5 mm (D)
* Approximately 158g

CPU

* PSP® CPU (System clock frequency 1 – 333MHz)

Memory

* 64MB main memory

Sound

* Built-in stereo speakers

Main Input / Output

* Wi-Fi (802.11b)
* Microphone

Supported Video Codec

* Memory Stick Video Format:
o MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC LC)
o H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile (AAC LC)
* MP4 Format:
o MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC LC)
o H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile – CABAC only – (AAC LC) / Baseline Profile (AAC LC)
* AVI
o Motion JPEG (Linear PCM or µ-Lau)

Supported Music Codec

* Memory Stick Audio Format:
o ATRAC3â„¢
o ATRAC3plusâ„¢
o MP3
o MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer3)
o MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC)
o WAVE (Linear PCM)
o WMA (Windows Media Audio 9 Standard Only)

Supported Photo Codec

* JPEG
* TIFF
* BMP
* GIF
* PNG

Price: $244.99 – now available at Amazon.