The PSP and UMD - another mini-disc?

[scottcr]

While I think the specs of the PSP make for some exciting possibilities, I have to admit that I find it unusual that Sony are attempting to move in with another proprietary media format, the UMD.

From what we've heard so far, the PSP will allow almost DVD like quality on the PSP's 5" screen. As a consumer, I do not fancy the idea of having to buy my favourite films again on UMD having just bought them on DVD. Also, I am of the opinion that the appeal of movies on the move is quite limited.

Unless Sony have something extremely clever up their sleeve (as they are likely to have), or the price of movies on UMD is very competitive, I can't see it really taking off as a movie player which would be 1/3 of its intentions un-used by many people.

any thoughts?

[Vaipon]

Are sony definitely selling this thing with full movie capabilities? I can't see it happening myself, I only think the video playback will be for games (cutscenes etc). It would be a nice feature, but considering SONY already sell this, for approximately ?650, it's hard to see the PSP which will be priced under ?200 replacing it.

And like you say, DVD is an established format. Nobody is going to want to re-purchase their film collection.

[scottcr]

I agree... it does seem to fly in the face of their personal DVD players, however, perhaps these are made by a different division within Sony. As I seem to remember reading, there's a bit of an internal rift within Sony with regards to the game division and how it compares to the rest of the compnay (that is, hugely more successfull).

Reading Edge this morning (last months) while sitting on the pan, the film playback capabilites of the PSP were mentiond.

If, as I believe Sony are, this is marketed as a media player and not so much a gaming machine, then movie playback will be a key "selling point". However, I can't see it becoming particularly popular... and how portable can a device witha 5" screen be? Will it have dual analogue input? Quite looking forward to seeing how it looks...