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bandit
May 24th, 2006, 04:32
Nyko PSP Theater Experience
Manufacturer: Nyko
Site: Buy from Divineo UK (http://www.divineo.co.uk/php/affstart.php?affcode=bandit&prod=psp-nte)
Price: £54.95 ($85.59 USD)

Overview : The Theater Experience for PSP is a one-of-a-kind case for the PSP. The black, brushed aluminum case features two hi-fi stereo speakers, a rechargeable battery and an angled stand for the PSP. The high fidelity stereo speakers provide sound that is crisp, clean and balanced. The built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery adds 7 hours of additional battery life for marathon movie and gaming sessions. The Theater Experience will even recharge your PSP 2-3 times before needing to be recharged itself. The angled system stand provides an ideal viewing angle for watching movies on the PSP. All of this plus dual headphone jacks, an audio line in port and a power extension cord for using the PSP outside the case are included in the sleek and stylish Theater Experience for PSP.

Features :

Adds 7 hours of playtime to the PSP
High fidelity speakers deliver full, rich sound
The case acts as an external power source to recharge the PSP without being plugged into an outlet
Dual Headphone Jacks
Form-fitted neoprene lining
Stylish aluminum case
System stand angles PSP for ideal viewing
Included AC and stereo cables allow you to play, charge or listen to the PSP outside of the case
Uses PSP AC adaptor

Quality/Usability : First, I'll talk about the first version of the case. At the end, I'll talk about the revised version of the case that Nyko released.

Upon opening and taking a look at the PSP Theater Experience, it looks sleek and nice looking made of aluminum. Holding it is a different story. Its a little heavy and long. The front of the case has dual headphone jacks and a DC-IN and DC-OUT port and is protected by rubber inserts. The rubber inserts seem a little flimsy as they come out sometimes and don't really stay in the case.

When you open the case you'll see two amp speakers on the underside of the front cover. One on the left and one on the right. The bottom of the case houses a cradle. Foam is used as protection that is placed at the bottom and underside of the front cover of the case. The cradle that holds the PSP has two plugs that will plug into the PSP; stereo and DC plug. The stereo will transmit sound to the two amp speakers on the case and the DC plug will charge the PSP when it is docked. On the back of the cradle are two stands that fold out to hold the PSP up.

Inserting the PSP is a relatively simple process. Just tilt the cradle upwards, and slide the PSP from the top into the plugs on the cradle. You wont be able to access the memory stick slot. Accessing all the buttons on the front of the PSP are easily accessible but reaching to WiFi or Power switch is a little tough. There are indents on the cradle to reach the switches with your fingers but for someone with fat or big fingers, you'll have a hard time.

The main purpose of the Theater Experience is to enhance the experience of watching movies on your PSP without having to hold the PSP in your hands. Playing games while its connected to the case is not a good idea. You'll have a hard time playing as it was not designed to be played while its in the case. But Nyko lets you use the Theater Experience as speakers rather then using the PSP speakers. Just simply use the included audio cables, plug one end to the PSP and the other end into the Audio-In on the theater Experience. Running low on battery on the PSP? No problem, Nyko also includes a cable that lets you plug one end into the PSP and the other end into the DC-Out. So now, not only can you use the Theater Experience as external speakers, but you can also charge your PSP while playing.

So yes, you can use your CD Player, Apple iPod or any device and use the theater experience as your external speakers. Just use the included audio cable and plug them into their respective ports.

Don't want to disturb people around you or can't hear? Just insert your headphones into the port and enjoy. Your friend can even join in since the case has two headphone jacks.

How's the battery life you must ask. Well its pretty good. It takes about 6-8 hours to fully charge. Solid green light means its charging, blinking green light means its done charging and red means its low on power and needs to charge. Once its fully charged, you can charge the PSP 2-3 times before having to charge the case itself.

While charging the case, you'll hear a humming noise. There is no way of avoiding this as there is no ON/OFF switch. Even when the amp speakers are in use whether its a MP3 playing, movie playing or you playing a game, you'll hear a slight humming. It does get annoying. It also distorts and washes out the sound.

Although it doesnt come with any power adapters, you don't need it. You can use the power adapter that came with the PSP to charge. If you're like me and use a USB cable to charge the PSP, I suggest not to as it requires alot more power then the PSP, so you might get an error on your computer regarding the USB device. Don't worry though, nothing will catch on fire or anything.

Conclusion : Overall, the case is nicely designed. There are some minor flaws such as rubber inserts that protect the front ports (headphones, DC ports). The only major problem I know of is the humming noise. Would of been to include an ON/OFF switch.

NEW REVISED THEATER EXPERIENCE

Quality/Usability : Yes, Nyko released a revised and updated version of the Theater Experience. There are some added features and some flaws that were present in the predecessor that is not on the current version.

First, the case still has the rubber insert problems. They just don't want to stay in. Its not a big problem but it would be nice if they actually worked.

Second, some new additions to the case. There is a ON/OFF switch at the bottom of the case that lets you charge the PSP while its docked in the cradle. If the switch is on OFF, it will not charge the PSP using the built-in battery. And of course, if the switch is ON, it will charge the PSP. Another added ON/OFF is the ability to turn on/off the amp speakers. The button is located on the left amp speaker. By pushing the button in, this turns on the speakers and a red light is indicated. Pushing the button again, pops it out and the red light goes out. This means the speakers are off.

Access to the WiFi and Power switch still lacks the room for those with thick or big fingers. So you'll either have to find something thing to help you get access to those switch or you'll have to take the PSP out to access them.

Other then that, the design of the case is still the same. Oh yea, what about the humming situation? You'll be glad to know that it is no longer there. No humming when the speakers are in use and no humming when the case is charging. No distoration in the sound at all and is crystal clear.

Conclusion : Overall, Nyko did a great job with the revised version. They fixed the major problem with the humming sound. It was a great idea to add the power button for the speakers as well as the ON/OFF switch to charge the PSP. All those other minor flaws were still present but those are really no biggy and nothing is perfect.

Images via comments

RorinDragho
February 16th, 2008, 13:13
I've been thinking of buying this one, but can't seem to find information wether it's compatible with the psp slim or not?
Hope you can answer this for me.

Looking at the pics, it's the phat inserted in the case, so not hoping much anyways

bandit
February 16th, 2008, 22:54
This will not fit the Slim. This came out way before the Slim was announced.

RorinDragho
February 17th, 2008, 14:51
Yeah I just found out aswell, the headphone jack is in a different place meaning it would never work, which really sucks cause I really wanted this one :p
I really wanted a case that had built in speakers AND a battery. To bad I guess, hope they eventually make one for the slim, and thanks for the respons though!

bandit
February 17th, 2008, 22:51
You can still use this as it has audio cable. You just wont be able to place the PSP into the case.

Eiswulfe
February 22nd, 2008, 07:40
Actually, I bought this system a couple of weeks ago, and was determined to make it work with my PSP slim, so I took it apart, did a little rewiring, then removed the audio plug, measured the PSP slim's audio socket location, then used a soldering gun to weld (melt the plastic) the audio jack into the new location from the bottom hinge of the cradle so that the "scars" would not show, then I took some patterned black crepe orthotic material to cover the cradle where the PSP rests so that you would never notice the hole where the audio plug was originally located.
It sounds complicated, but it really was not all that difficult.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0171.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0172.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0166.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0169.jpg

bandit
February 22nd, 2008, 15:00
Actually, I bought this system a couple of weeks ago, and was determined to make it work with my PSP slim, so I took it apart, did a little rewiring, then removed the audio plug, measured the PSP slim's audio socket location, then used a soldering gun to weld (melt the plastic) the audio jack into the new location from the bottom hinge of the cradle so that the "scars" would not show, then I took some patterned black crepe orthotic material to cover the cradle where the PSP rests so that you would never notice the hole where the audio plug was originally located.
It sounds complicated, but it really was not all that difficult.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0171.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0172.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0166.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0169.jpg
Nice...very nice. Possible to show under the tape that you used to cover?

Eiswulfe
February 22nd, 2008, 16:19
Actually, I used orthotic cement to attach the crepe onto the plastic, and that type of adhesive tends to weld to the plastic pretty well, so I am afraid if I lifted it, there would be much destruction in it's wake.
I can tell you this however, the crepe was used to cover the welded spot near the audio jack that looked a bit rough, and being the obsessive compulsive person I am I simply wanted it to look absolutely perfect and to blend in with the rest of the aesthetics ! ;-)

rickytr
May 18th, 2008, 12:26
Actually, I bought this system a couple of weeks ago, and was determined to make it work with my PSP slim, so I took it apart, did a little rewiring, then removed the audio plug, measured the PSP slim's audio socket location, then used a soldering gun to weld (melt the plastic) the audio jack into the new location from the bottom hinge of the cradle so that the "scars" would not show, then I took some patterned black crepe orthotic material to cover the cradle where the PSP rests so that you would never notice the hole where the audio plug was originally located.
It sounds complicated, but it really was not all that difficult.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0171.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0172.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0166.jpg

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg51/droberts4168/PSP%20stuff/IMG_0169.jpg

I bought this splendid case days ago and I would like to modify it the same way you did. But I cannot figure out how to remove the jack from its original position. Can you explain me how to do this avoiding to break the case, please?

Thanks a lot.

Ricky

Eiswulfe
July 13th, 2008, 01:03
Hi Ricky, so sorry it has taken me this long to answer,...I never received the automatic notification alerting me to your question.

Anyhow, to get access to the jack, you are going to have to disassemble to the case via the screws on the bottom and basically take it all apart (don't get scared though, as this is not very difficult to take apart and reassemble)

Once you have it apart, you will have to look under the frame where the the psp is seated.
From there, you will see that the jack is fitted in a slot and with some wiggling and a bit of force, you should be able to pull the jack from its socket relatively easy.
(you will only need to modify the audio jack, not the video)

Once that is done, you will need to measure as precisely as possible, where the jack needs to sit in order to line up properly with the slim jack.

Once you have that marked off, you can drill your new hole and seat the jack into place.

I used a soldiering pen to do the job with mine, melting the plastic around the newly seated jack and bolstering it by melting more plastic in the gap that was left underneath the jack.
Hope this helps =D:thumbup:

Raventyr
August 10th, 2008, 21:18
That's really cool, nice one ! As a side note, if you have the old version of this case with no recharge on/off switch, and speaker hiss, there's a quick fix I used.

open up the case as shown above, and disconnect the power connector from the circuit board. This gets rid of the speaker hiss and also stops the case from charging your psp constantly. If you want to use the onboard battery to charge your psp, use the extension cable that comes with it.

Thekrempist
October 2nd, 2009, 05:59
That's really cool, nice one ! As a side note, if you have the old version of this case with no recharge on/off switch, and speaker hiss, there's a quick fix I used.

open up the case as shown above, and disconnect the power connector from the circuit board. This gets rid of the speaker hiss and also stops the case from charging your psp constantly. If you want to use the onboard battery to charge your psp, use the extension cable that comes with it.

The wires (two 1 black 1 red) hes talking about BTW are the only two wires in the row of four that dont connect directly to the DC in and DC out plugs.

In other words they are the middle right section of wires.
and this totally works. Just unscrew the screws underneith the grey tape on the bottom.