The PlayStation Vita, also called the PS Vita, is a successor to the popular PlayStation Portable, also called the PSP. While the PSP had quite a few limitations, those limitations seem to have been overcome in this version. I’m no expert on the matter and this isn’t a review. However, since both my older son and my younger son have one each of the PS Vita, and my wife wants one to bring back with her to the Philippines, I think it’s my duty to write about it.
PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi Bundle and PS Vita Wi-Fi
I was on vacation in the US when both of my sons acquired their PS Vitas. My younger son, Jonathan, wasted no time in figuring out how to play whatever game was included with his version. I wasn’t too interested in it until today, but I watched him set up Netflix and Skype on it. I don’t know if it’s the 3G version or not, and I guess it doesn’t matter because it’s being used with the Wi-Fi router hooked up to everything in the house.
My son’s desktop computer, with Skype on it of course, crapped out today and Jonathan got my wife hooked up on Skype on his PS Vita and she was able to talk to one of her sisters, one that doesn’t live in my compound. She was talking to me on her cell phone and talking to her sister on Skype at the same time, so the conversation was a bit jumbled but I understood one thing. The wife wants one to bring back with her. Now, I told her that Netflix isn’t available here but that I could probably figure out a way to play AVI-type movies on it, if that’s what she wanted. I never know what she wants until she tells me and she usually tells me after the fact.
Price
The PS Vita isn’t too expensive but it isn’t cheap either. You can get an idea on prices by checking it out on Amazon: PlayStation Vita
It appears the 3G version is about $50 more than the non-3G version. Oh well, I wouldn’t be able to use the 3G version in my neck of the woods anyway.
What I would use it for
Honestly, with all the brownouts we seem to be having all the time, I’d probably use to watch movies to kill anywhere from a half-hour to three hours at a time without power. However…
With the right software and the right accessories, there isn’t any reason I couldn’t turn it into an MP3 jukebox or even a video jukebox (with YouTube downloads). I’m more inclined to do that with my notebook computer once I go back to using a desktop computer, however, because I wouldn’t need to buy anything I don’t already have – stuff I’ve accumulated over the past seven years.
Actually… I’m looking for a decent, affordable Wi-Fi router and if I’m successful, I hope my wife sends the PS Vita to me before she departs the US again. That way, when she wants to talk to one of her sisters (that lives in my compound), I won’t have to sacrifice my computer time so that they can chat for two hours at a time.