Re: PS Vita... Is it trolling if...

Helix

Otacon wrote: »

But would an AC adapter from another device [smartphone, tablet] work? What are the specs of it [voltage, amps etc.]?

The reason I ask is I already bring a smartphone charger with me to work [AC adapter + USB cable]. I want to know if I can just bring the PSV USB cable as well. If the voltage and stuff is the same it should work. I was hoping you could test it with your review Vita.

gotcha

the ac adaptor for the vita is 100-240v 0.2A 50/60Hz with a 5v 1500mA output

in terms of whether or not a run of the mill phone usb based ac adapter will work, im not sure actually. ill have a scout around the office and see if i can find anything that matches the vita specs

*edit*

given the effort that this chap has gone to http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/26419/PS+Vita+USB+Mod.html i don't think it'll work

Otacon

Helix wrote: »

gotcha

the ac adaptor for the vita is 100-240v 0.2A 50/60Hz with a 5v 1500mA output

in terms of whether or not a run of the mill phone usb based ac adapter will work, im not sure actually. ill have a scout around the office and see if i can find anything that matches the vita specs

*edit*

given the effort that this chap has gone to http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/26419/PS+Vita+USB+Mod.html i don't think it'll work

My Galaxy Tab AC adapter is 100-240v 0.35A 50/60Hz with 5v 2000mA output. Just slightly off. I'll test it when I get mine next week.

With figures so close I doubt the thing will explode. :pac:

Varik

Helix wrote: »

Varik wrote: »

It can, he just didn't activate USB charging, which is an option on the Vitaso you don't drain laptop battery.

no, it can't

So it can't, excluding the times it can.

Varik

Otacon wrote: »

Helix wrote: »

gotcha

the ac adaptor for the vita is 100-240v 0.2A 50/60Hz with a 5v 1500mA output

in terms of whether or not a run of the mill phone usb based ac adapter will work, im not sure actually. ill have a scout around the office and see if i can find anything that matches the vita specs

*edit*

given the effort that this chap has gone to http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/26419/PS+Vita+USB+Mod.html i don't think it'll work

My Galaxy Tab AC adapter is 100-240v 0.35A 50/60Hz with 5v 2000mA output. Just slightly off. I'll test it when I get mine next week.

With figures so close I doubt the thing will explode. :pac:

generally you just need the same output voltage with the current being higher or the same never lower.

Helix

Varik wrote: »

So it can't, excluding the times it can.

the only time it can is when its turned off, as the review quite clearly states

Varik

Helix wrote: »

Varik wrote: »

So it can't, excluding the times it can.

the only time it can is when its turned off, as the review quite clearly states

Would had to have read your review to see that.

bugs

From that link it looks like hes just modded the cable to remove the data lines from the usb cable. You can purchase cables like this, generally with dual output, one of which is power/data and the other is power only. Seems relatively simple.

Helix

Varik wrote: »

Would had to have read your review to see that.

then perhaps thats what you shouldve done before chiming in with the big "oh he's wrong" angle eh?

Varik

Helix wrote: »

Varik wrote: »

Would had to have read your review to see that.

then perhaps thats what you shouldve done before chiming in with the big "oh he's wrong" angle eh?

Being wrong or having to read, not sure which I dislike more.

what current does the ac output, as long as you can provide same or higher at same voltage out should work.

I think I've a few usb ports that output 3x standard.

Helix

5v 1500mA output on it

chin_grin

Got a few chuckles out of this article. (Sorry about the length).

http://www.destructoid.com/ten-whining-playstation-vita-nitpicks-221857.phtml

We recently reviewed the PlayStation Vita and had quite a few positive words to say about it. All things considered, the Vita is a great handheld gaming device that hopefully does very well and gets the software support it deserves. Still, nothing's ever perfect, is it?

After spending even more time with the Vita, Dale North and myself have been able to isolate a number of problems that are too small to ruin our lives, but provide enough minor irritation to at least be worth bringing up. We've selected ten nitpicky little niggles that we'd love to see rectified in the future.



USB Charging is a Hassle:

The PlayStation Vita can be charged by connecting it to a USB port on a computer or other electronic device, but it's not very convenient. Firstly, you have to manually set your Vita to accept a charge on an electronic device, rather than having it just work like USB devices are supposed to.

Not only that, the Vita cannot charge via a USB device while remaining switched on. You cannot charge it while playing a game (slightly understandable), but you can't even get any juice when it's in standby mode. As someone who likes to hook his devices up to a computer and intermittently check up on them, it's a bit annoying to not have it charge while remaining in standby. Instead, it needs to be powered completely down before it'll regain any battery life, which defeats the object of hooking it up to a computer in the first place. I gave up and just started using wall sockets, which I don't want to do.

So, you can charge via a USB port, but there's not much point. So ... what's the point?



Lengthy Boot Time and Standby Recovery

If there's one thing a Sony device loves to do, it's make users wait around. The Vita is no exception, taking its sweet time to switch on after being powered down. Not only that, but reactivating the system after placing it in standby mode takes far longer than it should.

When you press the home button to recover the system, there's an irritating delay between your interaction and the system's response. It's not exactly an eon of waiting, but it's just long enough to make you wonder whether or not you pressed the button. This is definitely a massive deal!



Double Tapping Apps

Whenever opening an app, you have to first click on its bubble icon to open up a specially designed splash page. You then have to click "Start" on that page to actually access the software. I don't quite mind that for games, where there are useful links to the manual and extra content, but why do I need to click through two screens just to access the Vita's settings page, or the PlayStation Store?

It's yet another example of Sony's tendency to introduce minor little inconveniences with absolutely no justifiable cause. The only reason you have to double tap is because Sony didn't implement a way for the Vita to differentiate from a game and another piece of software. After all, why should Sony put a little extra time in when it can just waste the consumer's?



Connections and Notifications

The Vita loves to spam its user with constant messages. Every time you put a new game in, you have to sit through a "please wait" pop-up and watch the icon bounce up and down annoyingly. Various games disable the network capabilities of the Vita during gameplay, and warn the player every single time it happens. As if that wasn't enough, the Wi-Fi Vita adds an extra annoyance by needing to manually connect every time it opens an app with online features.

Not being a technical expert, I don't know how necessary any of these notifications are, but I've decided none of them are required because they get on my nerves. So, get rid of them. All of them. Forever.



New Apps Installing in Dumb Places

You can fit ten apps on a single PS Vita home screen, and you can use multiple screens. I currently set up my system to have functional apps on the first page, games on the second page, and crap I don't want to touch on the third page. On any other mobile device, a new app would fill the first open slot available on the system. On the Vita, every game I install currently opens up on its own new page, even though the first two pages have open spaces.

This makes for a bit of extra fuss when personalizing the page, constantly having to shift apps from one page to another to get them where I need. All those empty spaces, and the Vita keeps ignoring them because it insists on doing silly things.



Lack of Multitasking

I'm definitely not among those silly critics who bash the Vita for not being a smartphone, but come on. If you're going to have a system with multiple features, it's a little embarrassing to not allow multitasking. I should be able to pause a game and go on to check some emails without having my game shut down. I should be able to do that, but I can't.

The bloody thing has a 3G-enabled SKU to appeal to the iPhone market, but it can't even let users check their Twitter in between game levels. That just seems self-defeating to me. Users are easily distracted and want to do more than one thing at once. The Vita doesn't cater to modern demands in that regard.



The ****tiest Browser In The World

The PS Vita web browser is one of the worst I've ever used. I'd take Netscape Navigator over that crap any day of the week. Dale didn't seem to think it was quite so bad, but I absolutely despise the thing. I don't know how it got so difficult to do something that other machines got right years ago. Hell, even the PSP has a better browser.

Slow, unresponsive, laggy, and unable to make even the most basic sites look right and function properly, the Vita's browser makes the Internet a sad and frightening place. I couldn't get the thing to open my emails correctly -- it would load up the email, but only render as far as the subject line before freezing.

Rambo thinks he had it bad in Vietnam, but he didn't have to use the PS Vita's web browser.



That ****ing Music

I've barely had the PS Vita for a week and I can't get the bloody music out of my head. When you're navigating on the home screen, this depressing mall music drones on and on, never stopping, never changing, just chirping and warbling for ten million years.

It'd be nice to set your own music, but instead you'll need to go to your settings and find the mute option in Sound/Display. Your choice is cold silence, or a repetitive drone that'll have you jamming knitting needles in your ears after fifteen minutes.

What is it about game consoles that think the cool, cutting edge thing to do is use cheesy muzak? It'd be like Skrillex wearing a flowery dress on stage ... though to be honest, he'd probably look a bit more sensible.



App and Data Management

I can't say I'm impressed with the PS Vita's ability to let you manage your application data -- or rather, how it doesn't. There's no way to check up on PS Vita save game data without opening the game itself, as only PSP save data has a menu item in the settings. If I want to check whether something has data saved to the memory card or the internal memory, either I can't do it, or the option is hidden away in some infernal corner of the console.

I also don't like how certain apps have to remain on the home screen. I don't think many of us need to keep Welcome Park on display forever, and some folk might not want to deal with photos, or use music, or fiddle around with Near. These items cannot be deleted, but they also cannot be hidden away. There's no folder or sub-menu to store away those apps one isn't interested in, so they have to stay there forever. BAH!



Needless Separation of Apps

There really is no need for Trophies, friends, party chat and even Near to be stored on the Vita as separate applications. They're all social and networking features, and they should all be used together in a unified social networking app. Having to open several apps to access several related features is pretty damn stupid.

This is indicative of Sony's larger problem of being unable to provide any sense of synergy in its software. Everything is so gated and fails to gel together properly. I want to feel like the PS Vita is a fluid and unified experience, not simply a dull conduit for a bunch of unrelated applications. This "close one door to open another" approach is lame.

Lame, but no deal-breaker. In fact, nothing here is a deal-breaker. The PlayStation Vita is a fine system and I really enjoy using it, but there are still all these little gripes with the thing. That is what Sony does -- it never really has one, big, all-encompassing problem. It just has a lot of minor issues that pile on top of each other.

Still, compared to the potential of the Vita and the fun already on offer, these issues are nitpicks that many can ignore. Just be prepared for them and enjoy your expensive new toy!

sarumite

chin_grin wrote: »

Got a few chuckles out of this article. (Sorry about the length).

http://www.destructoid.com/ten-whining-playstation-vita-nitpicks-221857.phtml

Most of their complaints seems to be software based which should (though this is sony) be resolved with a firmware update. That said stuff like no multitasking is a just a little bit sad to be honest.

Helix

my boot time is about 7 seconds, coming back from standby is instant and shutting down is 2 seconds... sounds like destructoid's vita is borked

ussjtrunks

Cant wait 4 wednesday got persona 1-3 + dissida 12 ready , uncharted might have to wait.

Varik

Helix wrote: »

my boot time is about 7 seconds, coming back from standby is instant and shutting down is 2 seconds... sounds like destructoid's vita is borked

More likely, it's also written by Jim Sterling so it's bond to be wrong.

ShadowHearth

well after work i grabed my 100 quid voucher, 70 cash that was extra and went off to gamestop to preorder that bad arse vita!!!

so lads gave me to pla with it! everyone who said that screen is sexy - were sooooo right! its massive and so bright! looks fantastic! it feels very well in hand and controls work great.
tried uncharted, which was really nice looking, but it wasnt as nice as i was expected. it look good, but it was really damn pixelated. dunno if i liked it that much to be honest and i LOVED uncharted games on ps3. ( still need to get uncharted 3 thought )
little Deviants were just pure cool. it looked waaaaay better and was more "sleek" then uncharted. alot of fun too! i honestly prefered little deviants over uncharted ( i know i am madman )
so after all that fun and awesomeness i walked away with no preorder!!! :pac:
i am giving myself some time to think about it. i wanted it so much, but now i am having second thoughts. It is a GREAT machine, it feels like such a quality product. 3ds looks like a toy near it! ( no offence, i still love my 3ds ).
the thing that makes me to hold off: games and future games, pricing of games.
from launch titles the only game that i would look forward was little deviants, as uncharted is meh, i was newer a fan of wipeout, i am **** at fighting games etc. i dont know any near release games i would be interested in. ps1 games can be played only by remote play ( stupid, when psp could play from machine it self ). so i could play some psp games on it so from market.

anywya, i LOVE the machine, but for the first time i am trying to listen for my brain then geek in me. i bought 3DS and i barely play it, i dont want to buy vita and have it on the shelf with 3DS . so great machine, but do i really need it . i cant believe i managed to walkout with my voucher and no preorder... i am impressed by myself and dissapointed lol. i sitll got time!

Helix

i think uncharted is gorgeous - certainly wouldn't have called it pixelated at all!

ShadowHearth

Helix wrote: »

i think uncharted is gorgeous - certainly wouldn't have called it pixelated at all!

dunno, it looked very pixilated for me m8. like little deviants had waaaaaaaay smoother lines. it looks very solid, where uncharted looked like low resolution game on very very big screen.

i know i am make it sound worse then it actually is, it still looked impresive as hell for handheld, but it was way less then i expected. the good thing is: if they can pull of such quality with release, i can only imagine how awesome games will look a year in to its lifespan!

Otacon

If Uncharted were a PC game, and playing it on PS3 was like playing it on the Ultra setting, playing the Vita version is like Medium.

You still get a great looking game, but the detail is not as good. I noticed it most when looking at Nate's eyes.

It is still a stellar looking game though and is on my pre-order list.

ShadowHearth

Otacon wrote: »

If Uncharted were a PC game, and playing it on PS3 was like playing it on the Ultra setting, playing the Vita version is like Medium.

You still get a great looking game, but the detail is not as good. I noticed it most when looking at Nate's eyes.

It is still a stellar looking game though and is on my pre-order list.

agree. its still a good looking game, but it did not WOWed me. unfortunately for me its not a console seller

Otacon

ShadowHearth wrote: »

agree. its still a good looking game, but it did not WOWed me. unfortunately for me its not a console seller

While I see your point, I never understood this idea of a console seller. I cannot think of a game that qualifies. I would never buy a console just for one game or because of one game.

For me, I'm buying the Vita not just for the games that are there now, but also for the games that will be coming out a year from now. I can understand people waiting for a price drop, but waiting for a 'console seller' seems pointless to me.

Anyway, back on topic [or whatever it is right now]

Helix

on my way to the Canadian vita launch event now. supposed to be plenty of third party devs showing their medium range products. I'll let yis know if there's anything particularly tasty on show

ShadowHearth

Otacon wrote: »

While I see your point, I never understood this idea of a console seller. I cannot think of a game that qualifies. I would never buy a console just for one game or because of one game.

For me, I'm buying the Vita not just for the games that are there now, but also for the games that will be coming out a year from now. I can understand people waiting for a price drop, but waiting for a 'console seller' seems pointless to me.

Anyway, back on topic [or whatever it is right now]

well i use it as a saying now. if there would be a game i want to play now, then i would just buy it now. when those games will be on on system, then i will buy it.

i still love it, i am not bashing it, its just current game library is not pushing me to buy it. i am looking at list of psp games that are out on release date digitaly. it might make me me to buy it so, as i havent led psp in ages. i wont be able to get my good old gen1 psp now too as its with a person i cant get a hold off .


i am bitching and moaning, but i bet i iwll be here on wensday with vita in my hands! what can i say, i am weak!

noodler

Even with the extra analogue stick, I don't really want to play console games on the Vita if you know what I mean.

I still haven't seen much in the way of original 'handheld' IPs for this yet.

Retr0gamer

Same here. I'm not interested in Uncharted after playing through 3. I have Lumines on my PSP. I'm interested in Wipeout but it seems like it's just the PS3 version or is it all new tracks?

The only game that actually looks remotely interesting is Gravity Rush.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Same here. I'm not interested in Uncharted after playing through 3. I have Lumines on my PSP. I'm interested in Wipeout but it seems like it's just the PS3 version or is it all new tracks?

The only game that actually looks remotely interesting is Gravity Rush.

Yeah, I think FFT or Jeanne D'Arc work perfectly.

MGS PO was a pain (altho still decent) and they had to really get the lead out for Peace Walker (and they did as it is spectacular).

But charging me more than a PS3 game for a diluted home console experience (worse controls, worse visual, worse sound, less comfort) is not going to sway me if I can simply buy the better version of a game and play it on my 32'' from the couch with a decent sound system.

Sad to say I haven't played Lumines.

Helix

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Same here. I'm not interested in Uncharted after playing through 3. I have Lumines on my PSP. I'm interested in Wipeout but it seems like it's just the PS3 version or is it all new tracks?

The only game that actually looks remotely interesting is Gravity Rush.

Wipeout is new tracks, if you already own fury you'll be able to download the vita version free when it launches

ShadowHearth

Lads, would they drop price on psp games on launch? I would just buy some credit and go mad on psp games I missed out for now, untill ps vita stuff is out.

Though I won't pay 40eu per pop on psn store, just **** that ....

Helix

get an American psn account. much cheaper

ShadowHearth

Helix wrote: »

get an American psn account. much cheaper

I am always thinking of getting one!

So many games that are not released here .

Thought I not good with all that psn process. Then the other problem: only 1 psn account on vita