As I’ve mentioned before, I am a happy Kindle 2 owner. The availability of titles, being able to read manga scanlations, and the 3G basic internet access have made it completely worth the purchase price for me.

Is it right for you?

If you browse around blogs or comment threads about ebook readers you’ll see a wide range of comments about their value and it may be difficult to make a choice. I’m hoping I can help a little bit.

Let’s start by setting the expectations for an ebook reader. It is designed to easily read and store text information in a portable format. That is it. In other words – it’s an electronic book. It sounds strange to say that because it seems redundant but it really needs to be emphasized.

Now let’s say what an ebook reader is not – it is not a portable media player, it is not a mobile phone, and it is not a portable computer.

This is where the confusion (and sometimes contention) seems to come into play with ebook readers. Some people want them to be more than their design allows. Remember, its main design function is to make a large library of text available in a small, electronic format that is easy to read. Any thing else is just a perk.

If you are looking for a portable media player, I recommend the iPod Touch or a PSP. If you are looking for a mobile phone I recommend the iPhone, a Blackberry, or a G1. If you want a portable computer then I recommend a netbook – perhaps a Dell Mini or Asus Eee PC. All of those devices can display ebooks (one way or another) but can also do other things that you may want to do that can’t be accomplished with a dedicated ebook reader.

One thing those other devices cannot do though is display text in a comfortable reading format with extensive battery life. If that is your priority then the ebook reader is for you!

Unfortunately, it is hard to debate the readability factor until you use an ebook reader extensively. You don’t notice how different it is using the dedicated display type of an ebook reader (commonly called e-ink) versus a screen on a computer or portable media player. It’s a very drastic difference.

Now, the other major factor to consider with an ebook reader is the number of books you read. Ebooks are generally cheaper than the published version of the book so you can save money in the long run. This really is only true depending on how you do your reading. If you only get books from your local library then this is not going to save you money (nor save shelf space for that matter). If you read a book every couple months then this is not for you either. If you are an avid reader or like to have books with you regularly then an ebook reader is probably a good investment for you.

The last question then, if you’ve decided to get an ebook reader, is which one do you want? This is tricky and I’m not going to answer for you. The popular ones are the Amazon Kindle and the Sony PRS series. A little less known but gets very good reviews is the BeBook. They each have different features and price options so be sure to comparison shop.

An excellent source of information about the different ebook reader options are the MobileRead Forums. They provide a ton of reviews, references, and a very active community that will help you make an informed decision. They also keep up with the latest trends so it may be good to wait on a purchase for an upcoming release (like the WiFi enabled BeBook due to be released soon).

Either way you choose make sure it’s a choice that’s right for you and if someone else chooses differently – let it be up to them. Personally, I think it’s very cool to have so many choices on how we can travel with our media be it Kindle, a PSP, or a Dell Mini – or a combination of them all.

If you have any further questions or want more details, feel free to comment and I’ll be happy to elaborate.

UPDATE: A friend recently wrote up their experience with trying out an ereader for the first time. Read her review on Murmur.

I’m also looking forward to the PSP-3000 (3rd generation) which is due out on October 15th. The only real update is a mic and a much nicer screen. That nicer screen may even been worth the price of upgrading – depending on the PSP Homebrew options.

PSP homebrew is hacking or modding the PSP to allow it do things beyond its initial design. The most common reason for modding the PSP is to play games off of the memory stick instead of off game cartridges (UMDs). Playing games this way saves on battery life and allows you to carry around multiple games without carrying around a bunch of UMDs. It also allows you to install other applications called emulators that make it possible to play other console games like Super Nintendo and Playstation games on the PSP. There are also programs for IM, YouTube, media streaming and bunches of other things. This turns the PSP into a very capable device. The trick is performing the actual modification. It can be tricky to pin down the exact process but thanks to a helpful guide at Gizmodo for reference, I was able to get some instructions together that actually work quite simply.

Materials needed:

• Tool Battery (required to perform the actually modification)
• PSP Slim (model PSP-2000)
• Memory Stick (at least 256MB)
• Computer running Windows XP

The Tool battery allows access to the underlying operating system (called firmware) of the PSP and is used to change the official firmware to the homebrew firmware. It will cost about $30 shipped. You can actually make your own but it’s really worth it to just buy the battery. You can then sell it on eBay or Craigslist – or just hold onto it in case you need to redo the homebrew someday in the future. If you’re confident after this guide you can charge your friends $20-$25 to do the homebrew for them (standard going rate).

Windows XP is required because the EasyInstaller runs a batch file that doesn’t quite work in Vista and isn’t compatible with Mac/Linux.

Software needed:

• Official Sony PSP Firmware 4.01 (all available official versions here)
• Homebrew Firmware 4.01 m33-2 (see below for other download links and updates)
• TotalNewbi EasyInstaller (See Updates Below!)

The latest homebrew version of the firmware at this time is 4.01. The officall firmware at this time is 4.05. Stick with 4.01 until Dark Alex updates his firmware. If you already have the homebrew firmware as of 3.80, then the ‘Network Update’ on the PSP will actually update the custom firmware with the latest homebrew firmware from Dark Alex. So when a 4.05 or newer homebrew comes out you’ll be able to get it as a regular update. Kinda neat ‘eh?

Homebrew Installation:

1. Charge both your standard and Tool battery to 100%. The Tool battery charges a bit differently. With the PSP plugged in and on, take out your regular battery (after it finishes charging) and insert the Tool battery. The reason for this is that if you boot with the Tool battery installed it will go into the special service mode we need to do the flashing and we don’t want that yet (and it won’t charge).
2. Take out any UMDs in the PSP.
3. Extract all of the downloaded software to folders on your desktop. You should then have 3 folders: the EasyInstaller, the official firmware, and the 4.01 M33-2 firmware.
4. Connect your PSP to your Windows XP machine and turn on USB Connect on the PSP. Backup any data you want to save from the media card. You can do this step while the batteries are charging.
5. Once you have saved your data, and with the standard battery installed (not the Tool battery) you can run the Start.exe program in the EasyInstaller folder. This will go through the process of setting up the media stick to load the first part of the homebrew firmware. Follow the onscreen instructions as it formats your card (leave the “name” blank when asked and you can accept default options). You will be asked to eject and insert the media stick a couple times during this process and it will format the card twice. When you get to a menu with 5 choices, you’ll want to choose number 4 to perform the Universal Unbricker which will load the 3.71 firmware. It will be done after the “write MS Boot Code” is complete and you see some credits.
6. Turn off the PSP. Disconnect the PSP from the computer and unplug the AC power. It is now time to use the Tool battery and update the firmware. Take out the standard battery and while holding the left shoulder button, put in the Tool battery. Be sure it is in firmly (hold the battery in or put the cover on). If the PSP doesn’t start up immediately then flip the power switch on. When the power light is green, you can let go of the left shoulder button. You may or may not see a menu at this point. Don’t worry if you don’t, just hit the X button to load the custom firmware and you should see the memory card light start flashing (the wireless light might flash too). This means it is loading. The PSP will turn off when it is done. You are now in possession of a homebrew PSP. It’s time to update it.
7. Put in the standard battery now (put the Tool battery away – we are done with it) and plug in the power and power it up. Now you’ll want to either format the memory stick (in the PSP menu options) or save that “magic” memory stick and put in the memory stick you are normally going to use and format that one. You are doing this to be sure you have the correct folder structure for the Homebrew usage. Once that is done, connect it to the USB cable put it in USB Connect mode.
8. To upgrade the firmware to 4.01 M33-2 you will need to go to those other 2 extracted folders. Take the 401.pbp file from the official firmware folder and put it in the 4.01 M33-2\Update folder. Now you will copy the Update folder to PSP\Game folder on your PSP memory stick.
9. Now that it’s copied over, you can disconnect from USB and then you will go to the Game section of the PSP and then Memory Stick. There you should see the update option to update to 4.01 M33-2. Once it is done you are finished. Your PSP is now updated to 4.01 M33-2 custom firmware. You now own an updated homebrew PSP.
10. To clean up, it is a good idea to format the memory stick via the PSP system menu and then you can rename your PSP and start putting your settings the way you like. You can also restore your backed up music, photos, game saves, videos, etc.

The difference between homebrew and standard firmware isn’t immediately obvious. I didn’t really notice much change other than a bit faster bootup and I could use the 4th brightness level while using battery (an option reserved for when on AC power). The other new feature is a recovery mode. If you hold down the right shoulder button when you boot up you’ll get a text menu with options for customizing some of the features of the PSP. I would recommend leaving this alone. The only time you may have to use it is for some games that load from the memory stick; there is a UMD setting on that menu to change occasionally for some of these games.

So now you have this cool new system and what can you do? Well that’s a lot of information and this guide was already pretty long, but here are a few things to get you started.

• SNES Emulator instructions
• PSP Homebrew applications
• Convert your PS1 games to play on PSP
• PSPISO.com (lots of helpful info and games)
• PSP Wallpapers (usable on standard firmware too)
• 8GB memory stick (recommended model/brand)

There is a large PSP homebrew community and by checking out different sites and forums you can find lots of other things you can do with your modified PSP. A word of warning though – some of the things like emulator games or pirated games are illegal. There are Fair Use rights on them but be aware of the rules. If you do want to go back to the standard firmware it’s really easy … just run the official firmware installer available from the Sony PSP website.

Couple of tips:

• Hold down the right shoulder button when you turn it on to get to the firmware settings screen
• Change UMD load type to “Sony 9660 -no UMD-” to load downloaded games (in firmware settings)
• Turn off the Sony boot logo to speed up startup time (in firmware settings)
• Name video files in sequential order if you want them to play one after another (good for TV episodes). File – 101, File – 102, File – 103, etc works well for season/episode numbering.
• Keep video file names short so you don’t have to worry about scrolling names
• If you use multiple memory sticks, make a small printout of what is on each one and keep it in your case (I always forget what games and multimedia are on which memory stick)

Good luck and have fun! If anything comes up or something was unclear please let me know in the comments. I’ll try to provide updates as they become known to me.

UPDATE (10/10/2008): The Dark Alex site now provides links to the official firmware and here is the english specific section of the forum. You can follow developments at his new blog and at PSPWIki. Also, the PSP-3000 has negated the battery exploit so don’t expect to load custom firmware on the PSP coming out on the 15th (at least not for awhile). It is being worked on so keep an eye out.

UPDATE (10/17/2008): Version 5.0m33 is now available here and at official download page. I have updated to 5.0m33 without issue (your customized settings will be erased but all memory stick data will be fine – though backup just in case).

UPDATE (04/09/2008): The TotalNewbi EasyInstaller is not really working right now. Use Rains Ultralite MMS Maker and follow the directions at the link. I’ll update the full post here once I get a chance to test it out. Be sure to get the latest version of the homebrew to use with this installer.

UPDATE (05/08/2009): PSP 3000 has been hacked. Expect homebrew firmware installation to be available in the near future.