This New PSP Upgrade Makes It Even Better In 2023 

My psp was a life saver on my tours to Iraq. In my little free time it was for movies, music, and games. Plus I stored some pictures of family on it. Having so much bundled into such a small portable device was super convenient. Plus mine was soft modded so I had a ton of old retro games to play.

PSP is still a top 5 best console to homebrew till this day.

This PSP is 18 years old, it's old enough to be a legal adult and it still holds up in 2023. A modded PSP can play PSP, PS1, GBA, GBC, GB, SNES, NES, GEN, GG, SM, MAME, 2600, etc...

I bought my PSP on launch day and it was the system that ignited my interest in softmodding and homebrew on all kinds of consoles. So many good memories with that handheld.

The PSP was a tour de force of engineering. A portable PS2.

I was lucky enough to be able to have my PSP 1000 at work back in the day and it was awesome. Movies and music all day, a nice picture slideshow running when I couldn't play it, games whenever, including multiplayer with some of the other guys working there. It was such an amazing little system and way ahead of its time. I wish I had some experience soldering, this would be a great way to freshen up the old girl. I still have all my old UMD movies and a huge stack of games laying around.

Absolutely love the PSP. Phenomenal system

This vid takes me back to the 1st PSP I've bought from a garage sale. It costed $10, but it needed a charger and a new screen. Luckily there was a shop near me that repaired retro consoles. I even replaced the face buttons myself. But the analog nub didn't work becase of a striped screw in that area. I still have it along with the later models.

Love these teardown / repair vidz you make!

Thank you for the video i was wondering about doing this project myself and i am glad you made this video! Thank you!

After I saw you put an IPS screen on GBA a couple of years ago, I decided to buy a used GBA, re-shell it and put a new IPS screen. Two years ago I bought a used PSP original model. And now you are probably going to make me put a IPS screen on it.

I did the IPS upgrade on my PSP 1000 a few months ago, it was tough soldering the two surface mount pads together but got it done. Much brighter and better than the OEM screen.

Man my psp back in 2011 was a machine! I picked up a 3000 cheap at a pawn shop in my town go the micro SD card convertor and loaded that puppy up. School bus rides for the last 2 years of highschool was a blast. This was where I actually ended up playing hours upon hours of GBA games and kingdom hearts birth by sleep and Tekken 6 were my favourite games on the system.

I've seen "solderless" kits that come with conductive paint to bridge that small connection instead of having to solder it. Not sure how well that works as I haven't tried that myself, but may be a good option for those that don't want to solder. Edit: Just realized the replacement screen you linked to on Amazon actually comes with a tube of "Silver conductive adhesive". I believe this is the stuff you would use instead of solder. The listing still mentions that you have to solder though, so not 100% sure on that.

The only mod I have done to my 1000-model was adding in usb charging. It was such a huge life-saver because I'd always lose the charger but would always have mini-USB cables.

The true is that SONY is afraid of his own shadow, they have everything to make a new PSP 2 but here we are in the year 2023. 😭

I did this mod like 1 month ago and have been enjoying the new life this IPS mod breaths into the 1000 ever since. its so much better with the side scrolling games, like ps classic megaman collection. and the brightness is just wow. thanks for making a video and remind everyone how great was the psp

I bought the screen based on MVG's video a couple of days ago. I looked up instructions to install it (it's not here yet) and found your video - a trusted source. Looking forward to grabbing a soldering iron sometime.

My first "proper job" paycheck back in summer 2005 (that was when it launched in the UK) was used to buy a PSP1000 that I pre-ordered from HMV. This video brought back a lot of memories, as did MVGs. I really appreciate the demo and the explanation of what to watch out for. If I was to do this screen change what wire would people use to bridge those two points? Does it need to be a specific metal or diameter?

I need to do this! psp 1001 is my favorite out of the bunch that were release! really happy this was developed. Thank you for sharing!

I just installed the same IPS screen from the same seller (still not sure what the syringe that comes with it is for) and with my little bit of experience, WOW was soldering the points on my MB version challenging! Of course I'd have the version with the smallest points but I pulled it off and am very happy with the results! The screen is incredible!

Good to see Jon taking stuff apart again.

Three months ago I also had this screen installed in my PSP! The picture is so incredibly sharp and bright. It just consumes a little more power. Absolutely perfect it would be if there was a laminated variant ;)

This is a great vid. Loved it.

I'd do this if not for the soldering. I've not really experienced the PSP or it's library of games. It seems super cool.

I bridged mine on the first try with no issues and no wire needed. The foam spacer width was too wide so I cut it in 4 pieces and shortened the long ones. It then fit perfectly. I installed a second one on a different motherboard and did have to use a wire to bridge it. Thank you for this video as I also needed to push my ribbon cable in farther.

Pretty cool, but the best alternative is to just get a vita and jailbreak it to play psp (and other system) games. Far easier than this hassle.

This vid made me wanna grab my PSP right away, what a wonderful device. I'm not much of a modder myself but the upgrade looks really good. Sidenote wanted to play my PSP ... it seems all four batteries I own are swollen. Guess I'm gonna have to replace those first 😅

do you have any suggestions to which kind of soldering kit to use for retro repairs like screen replacement?

I would also suggest to look for 0 Om resistor instead if blob is not your jam. Also MVG did a great comparison shots between original and IPS replacement (i assume the one in this video is also IPS, right?)

Kool video, Im dying to get my psp online. Its pretty new I hardly ever used it. Only thing is I don't know much about routers and changing specs to get it online. I would love to take it with me and use it on the road. Brings back some good memories of playing games with my nephew when he was really young.

Still my favorite handheld to this day.

Psp was my go to device in high school. My ds broke the hinge with normal use. I tried to repair it with my family and it broke. We were poor and I told a friend about it. He told me he was selling psp and I got all money I could buy selling things to get it. So I enjoyed ds first half of life cycle and psp the other half. I remember playing on my modded wii xbox psp and ds I used flashcard. I made the most out of every console I had because I was poor. I still got games for Christmas or birthday. I wanted to play as much as I could growing up. I watched movies at school after work and on the bus. I would listen to music on it. I carried two batteries because I used it so much. I played games like assassin creed bloodlines early that is sequel to first game. I still bought games when I could like crisis core and gta games. It was impossible for me to support all these games growing up. I ended off with my senior year getting 3ds and flashcard. So I caught up on all the ds games I was missing out on because the poor build quality. I used my psp so much it's legit broken. Memory card is super slow it's been beaten up so to me it's has a special place in my heart as probably my favorite portable system. I got vita and sadly haven't enjoy that much out of it. I got steam deck and it really has been my go to over everything else. I bought over 1500 games on steam so I have huge list of games I still need to go through. Love of gaming has never died and I wonder if it ever will.

PSP was way ahead of its time and people back then knew it, it wasnt like dreamcast where people didnt get it, they got it, the psp gave gamers a glimpse into the future and got psp users ready for it.

i bought two psp's in perfect condition yesterday the 1000 and 2000 models..omg nostalgia took me back..best handhelds ever.!!!

it's RIDGE RACER... remember that one?!

I will plan on getting my own PSP down the line. The Game Boy Advance SP was the first handheld I owned back in in the mid 2000s followed by a DS Lite in the early 2010s because it was backwards compatible with the GBA library. I borrowed a PSP from a friend for a road trip though.

2:10 Ubisoft should bring back this logo! I love that intro

Funny how I bought a PSP 3000 fairy new guys still had it in original packaging for under 80$ I'm going to do this as soon as I get it in the mail. Pretty straight forward process. Thank you for the vid

I just got a psp 3000 and a PS3 and let me tell you great graphics still playing fatal frames even number 3 I'm amazed how these games hold up still great even have the physical copys of one and two but being able to play for the go is amazing!!!!! I love my psp and PS3 so many great graphical games to play even for the go!!!!! Tomb raider anniversary looks great on it even and I have the trilogy as well!!!!! I'm thinking of getting a psvita even!!!! It's so great to see people still play these systems you get more bang for your buck then wasting money on these new systems!!!!! When you can get the same experience back then!!!! And when things were more cared for!!!!!! I can say I do love the psp and I'm happy to have the 3000!!!!!! It's a fantastic little device and it has its own power!!!!! For being a handheld!!!!! Love it went back to playstation Instead of Nintendo switch!!!!!

I'm definitely going to give this a try!

I was wondering, could you mod the charger port on the PSP to use type c usb instead? Type c cables are everywhere, chargers for the PSP are a little harder to find.

Great video

I love the retro tech reviews.

Yo China thanks for all the cool tech ✌🏻

This is awesome! Something I'd like to see is a mod/kit to use an external controller (so when you connect it to an external screen you can play like with a home console). Best wishes from Uruguay!

My PSP is my preferred emulation device

thank you Spawn Wave

What storefront did you use to buy this? Ive been really looking into fixing one up myself

I got the ips screen for my PSP 1000 about a year ago and it took nearly 40 days to get to me, because it wasn't available on Amazon yet. Quick question though. I got me a new full clear housing shell replacement and my issue is that now all of my face buttons are super stiff (impossible to play games stiff), do you have any tips? If I slap back on the original face plate every button works fine. Thanks for the video by the way and now I can order that same ips screen I ordered from another country right here in the US from Amazon.

I've got one cheap with the screen totally dead. I did some 3d printing, made space taking off the umd and showing an arduino, and now I just playing with it trough the av component and using an arduino (where the umd was) trough a dualshock 2 to play games as an static console

Even without the upgrade it's better than Project Q

I wish there were IPS screens for the 2000 PSPs. I have 2 PSP 2000s that need new screens as at some point the liquid crystals of the display just started leaking or something from the screens getting to old.

I have a PSP 2000 with a busted screen and a 3000 that should be fine. Would be nice to get a screen replacement for the 2000 model. Had a lot of fun with a modified PSP back when, emulation was pretty good on a portable for the time.

Where did you order the replacement front shell from? I want to replace mine on the PSP 1000

Soldering is my kryptonite

The foam is around the screen so dust that gets inside the chassis can’t get between the screen and the front shell (presumably also/multiple reasons)… but it SUCKS if you skip it and dust gets in there

Do you have any recommendations where i can find a new front cover plate? Mine is all scratched up

I spent years trying to find a decent one I would be happy with for my collection. I collect consoles. I got a fully boxed psp with everything in the box absolutely mint. Love the psp. Naturally I’ve put a temporary firmware flash program on my memory card with no end of psp games and emulators. Very good for ps1 games too. I’m sure I’ve got more stuff on it but been in the loft for over a year

I’d love to have a screen like this for the PSPGO.

I didn’t think I’d see Megaman Powered Up gameplay in 2023. That one wasn’t on my bingo card

I loved my Psps (1000 soft Modded and 2000). I've meant to replace the screens for a while now(both cracked), so a brighter display might just be the motivation I need.

Great for those with a broken screen, but I dont think I'd bother modding my PSP 1000. I'd definitely try it if someone made a better screen for the 2000 or 3000.

Any good speaker mods out for the PSP? The device has rather clear audio but it is quite low in volume. So basically a volume boost without causing distortion.

I've modded my Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance and Neo Geo Pocket with IPS screens. Will probably do Game Gear too. But I don't think the PSP really needs it. For me, it still holds up just fine.

Hey John, do you have a PSP Go? There is almost no replacement parts out there.

I did the same kit but the guide I followed was for a different model of psp so the points needed to be bridged weren’t in the same spot so I was like… hmm let’s see what happens if I don’t. It just made the screen display a bit offset from the top. Not terribly noticeable though.

I obtained some electrically conducive PAINT. This works awesome on bridging situations such as this. Try it! I even saw a kit like this that included silver conductive paint.

I have a question that maybe you could help. I have my old psp 3001, and I just recently just got a problem that it turns on but then immediately turns right back off?

wish i could do this, but I had 1 psp with 1 bad screw, and I tore it off ripping the part the screw goes into, and broke the slide for power on/off so i had to buy another from a friend, and it had the a screw at the bottom rusted and couldnt get out, so i cant really do the mod to it sadly.

I bought my psp 2000 the same day crisis core release and have loved it ever since, more plus for the component cable.

I have a PSP go and I did the Micro SD card adapter so I'm able to use those now and load up on games for it.

My fav is the hacked psp go the slider feels better more to the middle and its nice and small

Cool is the PSP pi project! There is a guy making a raspberry pi inside PSP!

More or decent flux makes solder flow onto metals and sticks your solder to it.

Nice, I hope they make one for the 2000 as my psp2000's screen is having issues.

I fully replaced my psp shell as my first customization and tear down and it was a nightmare.

I now emulate all psp games on an android handheld but this is still cool to see.

something that makes the screen upgrade easy is a flux pen, was sketchy working in that tight area without it.

If only they made it for the 2000 series. The ram upgrade makes a huge difference for homebrew apps that actually take advantage of it.

I just recently got back into PSP gaming after I heard you could stick a 128GB micro SD card in using an adapter. Now I have my whole collection on mine! Kinda wanty to have a go at the mod since I first saw it a week or so ago.

The screen looks beautiful! Doing this in 2023 is best for people who really like the PSP.

Where did you found this brand new shell tho ?

love your tech vids, would love to see you take on the steam deck shell swap and give your thoughts about the quality. keep up the good work man.

Long live the PSP

Excellent option since I have about 50 PSP to repair and I can only change screens, and more to change my personal PSP's, I hope and in the future they do for the other versions

I actually disassembled my PSP because there was a lot of gunk on the d-pad that made it difficult to play. I also needed to replace the battery since the other one didn't work very well. I think the disc drive on my PSP is faulty since it took forever for certain games to load and it may have froze a few times. I just ended up hacking games onto the PSP instead. I had issues removing the screws on my PSP because I didn't realize my screwdriver was broken.

This video just reminds me how dissappointing project Q is. No ability to play the games natively on local storage is just a bad move. I understand it would cost a lot more and would also take a lot longer to develop, but I truly believe there is a market for portable PS5 games that arent just remote play, juat like Switch is still selling a megaton and also Steam Deck/Ally.

For such a small solderbridge conductive silver paint may be a simpler solution for those who are not trained to solder small parts.

I don’t even see anyone playing a PSP anymore. These were a lot of fun to use, and there were very fun games. I remember my Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. In fact I still have them. Everyone had fun playing with those. The games were fun as well

It would be awesome if you could talk about your experience with the PSP batteries; since it’s really difficult to find an okay third party battery.

Honestly I'm surprised that the PSP hasn't gotten more modification stuff. I would love to see a new more reliable 3rd party battery from some company.

I wish PSP still released new consoles. I had to get my kids the Nintendo Lite but man I wish I could have gotten them into the PlayStation world

Is there any way of upgrading a psp 3000 screen as well?

I think the upgrade is great, Willbe doing mine when I have some free time

Do you have any opinion on ps vita upgrades and homebrew?

I got my PSP on launch day and it still works fine but either the screen got worse with age or it was always worse than I thought. I'd love to replace the screen. Now I just need a way to use microsd in it instead of those awful memory sticks.

I had this one, remember you could mod them also 😅 I wish I had the blue 3000 model but only had the 1000

This is really cool! If you have an OLED Vita I still believe that's gonna be the best screen to play PSP games.

I took apart my psp 1000 to change the faceplate silver and never figured out how to put it back together