PSPgo

This makes for some peculiar contortions to get at some of the new functionality. Sony appears to have missed a trick with the PS3 pad support, for example, which would have been great for PSP owners who didn't own a PS3 but wanted to use the pad and an external display. Sadly that's not really an option, because a PS3 is required as an intermediary to sync the PSPgo to a Sixaxis or DualShock 3. The process is relatively painless, but seems less than optimal, especially as you have to retake the PSPgo's Bluetooth vows if it talks to a PS3 in the meantime.

Plus, you might as well chuck out your Memory Stick Pro Duo, because PSPgo uses the new Memory Stick Micro, or M2, sometimes seen in mobile phones. All very well if you've got one, but you might not. I didn't. On the plus side, games can be stored on the PSPgo hard disk or the M2, by the looks of it, potentially doubling your capacity when using the currently-maximum 16GB option. Transfer speeds over USB to the hard disk and M2 are comparable - about 90 seconds for a 700MB file.

One other notable change is that the battery can no longer be removed. As for how long it lasts, I've not had the PSPgo long enough to run any decent tests (and it has to go home today - boo!), but despite bouncing around some of the onboard demos and sampling various media for several hours, it's still going strong with two bars left. I'd love to be more precise, but for some reason the battery information option has disappeared from the system menu in the new 5.71 firmware included on our unit.

Thanks to the device's previous guardians, I've also had to stare in a mixture of lust and sadness at the installed copies of Gran Turismo PSP, LittleBigPlanet, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, none of which can be coaxed into working. Apparently this is down to a firmware issue, although the error message mentions that the wrong PSN account is in use - a reminder that with the PSPgo now reliant upon downloadable content you'll need to be the authorised user.

So, all things considered, would I buy one? The answer's much the same as it was with the PSP-3000, really: It's a nicer device, despite the reduced screen and oddly-positioned analogue nub, and providing Sony can come up with an adequate way to transition my old UMD favourites like Lumines and Puzzle Quest to the Store without forcing me to fork out more cash, I'll be content enough with the new world order.

What's putting me off, however, is the price, and the irritating decision to "upgrade" Memory Stick compatibility and render my old component cable obsolete. With that said, as a new entry point to Sony's oft-maligned handheld business, this is a handsome update, even if Apple will probably continue sleeping soundly.