I must say I agree with the original poster about the PSP slim being cheap. I had a PSP 1004, and although it was also made in China, it felt like a quality product and gave me ZERO issues for 2 years. Now I got a PSP 2004 and it not only 'feels' cheap, it's actually poorly manufactured. The screen is not aligned correctly. The faceplate edges are not well attached. It creaks. The battery cover is not fixed well. Light is coming through the button gaps. I actually opened it up to fix these issues. See my blog post here.
I'd actually do anything to get my PSP phat back (sadly I sold it off). My PSP experience now feels less enjoyable than it used to be.