Huzzah! The PSP launch date! Fry's, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make you buy a bundle if you wanted Sony's new pocket (well, cargo pants pocket) rocket. Since the games they were offering were going to be what I would buy anyway, I decided to give them my business... that and as I passed by the San Carlos Best Buy there were about 100 people in line.

The doors were going to open at 8am and I was pleasantly surprised to find only about 20 people in line. A few people looked hard core, others looked like they were sent there by the kids. Bundles advertised included the system, Need For Speed Underground, and either Lumines or Metal Gear Ac!d (not a typo, stupid exclimation point is part of the title). Upon arrival, they also had a bundle that was all accessories (hideous fanny pack, UMD protectors, car kit, and 'power pack' battery).

One of the managers stepped out to view the line and proclaimed "oh wow, we have plenty"... obviously expecting a much larger crowd. We entered in and were ushered over to the DVD aisle to get a quote. Of course, we passed by pre setup racks of accessories (high margin fun) and as we waited we were serenaded by songs of employees saying things like "the battery life sucks... buy a power pack". How often is it you hear salespeople telling you about how a part of something sucks that you're waiting in line to buy?

I did end up getting the screen protectors as well ($9.99 for two... I feel dirty). Since I pretty much knew I wasn't going to have time to play, I didn't get any other games besides NFS and Lumines. Wipeout and a big Memory Stick Duo will be mine next trip.

Overall impressions? It's pretty amazing. The screen is phenomenal, even though I have a few of the notorious dead pixels. Doesn't bother me that much and I figured as much since it's a Sony product that there would be defects. I like the video and music functionality and overall I feel it's a pretty good deal for $250. In a way, I wish it were smaller. As I said earlier, this isn't exactly something you shove in your pocket, unless of course you're wearing Hammer pants.

Total Time Spent (including waiting in line): 20 minutes
Total Money Spent: $384.83

Oh yeah, there was also a trip BEFORE the PSP trip (a few days earlier). Interesting tidbits:

There was a FURIOUS customer over by the computer repair bay. He sounded as though the technician behind the bench had just slapped him in the face. Apparently he brought in his inkjet printer in for repair. During the repair process, they replaced his ink cartridges. Result? You guessed it... the ink cost more than the printer itself. Hot. Razor blade sales model, my friend.

I was tempted to pick up the new Plextor dual-layer DVD burner since MaxPC basically stated that it'll do all that and a bag of chips. Then I realized that a) I have no need at the moment and b) well... no b)... just a).

I did, however, end up picking up a 512MB USB thumb drive (PNY Attache). Cheap at $35. It came in SUPER handy that weekend when I had to shuttle files from multiple machines that weren't networked, though I wish I would have gotten the 1gb model. Oh well, next time.

I couldn't resist a rebate item... Antec NeoPower 480w power supply. Yes, I was excited about a great price on a PC POWER SUPPLY. It's an amazingly stable and quiet PS and with a $50 rebate, only $50 + tax. It'll be perfect for that new mega PC on the drawing board. I also debated the 400gb drives, but right now the only models they have sport 8mb cache... I figure if I'm going to drop that coin on a huge drive, I might as well wait for 16mb SATA II models.

More couples looking at pr0n. Maybe it's easier for them than the shady places on parts of El Camino. I got the new Incredibles DVD, which has some awesome bonus features, and a roll of packing tape for a friend who's moving.

Games wise there wasn't anything really exciting. I did notice that it's pretty hard to find an XBox lately. Rumor has it that M$ has stopped production in anticipation of the XBox 360 (or XBox Next, or XBox "Bill Gates Love Machine"). Not sure of the validity, but it is certainly scarce on the shelves... that and I haven't seen the PSTwo (slim PS2) at Fry's in a few months.

That about does it... Final thoughts? They didn't have any of the new Sprint phones in stock. The return line had NOBODY in it (scary sight). They had the Canon SD500 in stock.

Total Time Spent: 30 minutes
Total Money Spent: $166.89
posted by Steve at 10:50 PM

Chronicles my trips to Fry's Electronics

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