The Hate of a Dead Pixel

Well, I finally went out and got a PSP (call it an early birthday present to myself), and it’s a thing of beauty. But…

Getting one that had no “dead pixel” took 3 tries, and a battle to get the third one. This is unacceptable, especially since Sony is taking the stance that a dead pixel is not a defect, and that every PSP is probably going to have a one. Which is complete bullshit, and if it isn’t, who the hell wants a device that has noticeable dots on the screen?

I first picked it up Sunday night at Bic Camera — they are excellent on returns, and I get points, that I used on the purchase of a memory card — just as they were closing. Got home, noticed a pixel in the upper right hand corner area that was constantly white, and got really down about it (I obsess over things like that). The next day, I waited for Yuko to get back from school, and so at night we went to Bic, and exchanged the PSP for another one with absolutely no problems (he barely looked at my receipt), which is what I expect from Bic. Got home, and now noticed a blue dot in the middle of the screen! I was getting upset, but had to wait until Tuesday morning before going back. I went by myself, and was told that they would not exchange it again, that it was Sony’s problem. I got back home, and Yuko offered to call to find out what the real deal was — I wasn’t sure if I understood everything they told me.

Now, the thing is, Yuko is a master negotiator, and she always amazes me when she’s in that kind of situation. Speaking with the game manager at Bic: “So what you’re saying is that it’s not a defect? So then you exchanged once, knowing that there was no defect?. Followed by: “Oh, OK, so you’re telling me that they all have this pixel problem. So Bic is knowingly selling defective items then? That’s the type of store you run?” All in a very calm and composed tone. They finally agreed to let me try one more PSP at the store, but that this would my final chance for an exchange, and that after I would have to deal with Sony (and they said that Sony does not consider a dead pixel to be a defect).

To end this quickly, I went back, tried another one, it looked OK, and I’ve been enjoying it every since. The thing with this whole situation is that it really got me down on something that I was so ready to be happy about. In the end, I got satisfaction, but it wasn’t easy, and I don’t blame Bic.

OK, now, on to the good stuff. Yes, the PSP absolutely rocks. You all know I’m a huge Nintendo boy, but sorry, the DS has nothing on the PSP. Now, one of the reasons I really wanted a PSP was because of its video capabilities (as much as for the games, if not more), and I am definitely not disappointed. I am able to put all the TV shows and anime I download directly on the PSP to watch on my daily train commutes, and it looks great. I’m using a great little program called PSPWare (I know there’s another one called iPSP, but it refuses to work for me, constantly crashing on startup) that makes it so easy to convert Divx files to PSP-compatible MP4 files, and then sync it up. I’m finally going to have a chance to catch up on all that anime that I’m behind on (first, finishing up OTOGIZOUSHI, then FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST). It’s amazing how much it helps the commute time fly by.

Oh yeah, and it plays games too! I got WIPEOUT PURE, which is absolutely stunning. The huge screen shows off the gorgeous graphics beautifully, and it’s a joy to play with. Now, I’ve been reading reviews saying that the graphics are just about equal to what you get on a PS2, and I wouldn’t go that far, but it does look amazing, and I’m already drooling at the prospect of being able to play some FINAL FANTASY type games (or even GTA) on it. The next game I’ll probably pick up will be LUMINES.

A sour start, turning into a big, big love. Damn you, Sony!