Sony PSP, OK but game boy ds is a better option

I have had a psp (well actually more than one) for about 2 years now.
the PSP screen is brighter than the GBA, or for that matter the GBSP. THe graphics are way ahead of all the gameboys, even the game-boy DS. I really dont care about graphics, however. I just wanted PS2-like games on the go. I am somewhat happy with the games, and It is small enough to be reasonably portable. Sadly, its hard to port over PS2 games to this because of the smaller size of the CD, and the different controls. Think about it- PS2 has 4 shoulder buttons and 2 analog sticks, the PSP has 2 shoulder buttons and 1 analog stick. Due to this, a lot of games, particularly ported games (which is a lot of them considering that it's basically a PS2 made portable) are a major let-down because of horribly mangled controls, many levels/lots of content removed due to smaller disks, lack of special features etc.

Also, with a bright screen and good graphics comes a major drawback in portable consoles-namely, BATTERIES! The psp has built in rechargeable batteries. They only last 2 & 1/2 hours on a charge. they take almost that long to recharge the batteries. yes, you can play it while charging, but WHY don't they have it accept regular double a or triple a batteries! What if I forgot to charge it last night? then I want to use it in a car trip, but I cant cos u cant just change the batteries, U HAVE TO WAIT 2 HOURS FOR THE BATTERIES TO CHARGE!!! I have rechargeable tripleA's anyway. A better solution would be- PSP takes 3 tripleA's and comes with 6 rechargeable triple A batteries. PSP also comes with a charger for triple A's, So u can keep an extra set of batteries with you. Of course U can mod it so it does take triple A's but it should be BUILT that way in the first place!

And Speaking of the way it's built, do not buy it if u are rough on your portable devices because IT WILL NOT LAST!!! GET AN mp3 player and a gameboy ds instead. I am on my 4th PSP. It should have been called "POS" (peice of $#*&!). I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER PSP! I have had so many problems. THose UMD's (the disks) brake to easily, too. they are so fragile that some "protective cases" ACTUALLY DAMAGE THEM!!! First PSP failed within 1 month. it was the cd-rom drive. got new PSP under warranty. Second one, after 13 months, power switch fell off. used a pen to turn on/off. 3 week after that, NO POWER! it wouldnt turn on. Repaired for $110. 1 week later, battery-indicator stopped working. I lost that one at school 2 months later. No I dont mean it broke, it got stolen. (bad luck) . Saved up and got a new one. 3 DAYS AFTER I GOT IT THE DISK DOOR BROKE! returned to store GOT ANOTHER FLIPPING PSP. SO far, no problems yet. IF you are one of those people who "baby" your devices (you know who you are, no offense) go ahead and get this. If you want something that will take a beating, Get the gameboy DS.

UPDATE JUNE 7 2008
I just found that you can get replacement cartridges (the ones that hold the actual CD and protect it) from a 3rd party manufacturer that are seemingly more durable- I just rented a game that had been put into one of those cartridges, and I googled the company name that was stamped on the cartridge. Also, I bought an external battery holder that powers your PSP with 2 AA batteries, no modifying of PSP internals to deal with. sadly, this makes it unusable with any type of case or grip because ABSOLUTELY NO ONE makes "external battery friendly" cases or grips or "skins" of any kind!!!!

UPDATE JUNE 18
My psp is beginning to have problems. It hasn't completely died yet but I don't have a lot of confidence that it will last much longer. The problem? well, it keeps freezing up during games. sometimes it freezes for a few seconds then suddenly un-freezes and continues to work, but often it has to be reset in order to work again. It does this frequently regardless of the battery charge level. This is happening with all games. Also, it seems to randomly turn off at times for no reason. I am changing my rating from average to below average at this point. This one didn't even last a year before it started having problems, and I think it's only going to get worse. Come to find out, the DS lite also had problems with the hinge, but nintendo has fixed the problem and will replace affected DS-lites for free. Nintendo builds their systems well. Repairs are not as expensive either if you do have a problem-DS repairs are often in the 40-50 range. It's not cheap, but it's better than PSP- It cost $110 to replace 1 board on my old one! it wasnt even the mainboard- it was the power switch/right control button board! that's more than half the cost of a whole new PSP! Nintendo's products are more robust and they seem to have good customer service if there IS a problem.