"They aren't really using any cutting-edge technology. It's more like they've just eliminated the parts that were unnecessary to assure quality." That was what our engineer said after disassembling the PSP-2000, the latest model in the line of PlayStation Portable (PSP) game consoles from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCE) of Japan, released in September 2007.
The PSP-2000 uses the same liquid crystal display (LCD) size, input interface and other specs as its predecessor, the PSP-1000, but weighs less by about a third as much, at only 189g. The case is also 4.4mm thinner, at only 18.6mm. "The PSP-1000 was the first portable game system that SCE manufactured, and came with a large 4.3-inch display. That resulted in a pretty difficult requirement specification as far as strength goes. In designing the PSP-2000, though, it looks like the firm applied what it learned to remove unneeded parts," added our engineer.
Eliminating Components
SCE adopted a fairly standard approach to making the PSP-2000 lighter: it reduced the number of components and replaced metal parts with plastic ones. The biggest contribution to weight reduction came from elements like the case, LCD panel and universal media disc (UMD) optical drive. On the PSP-1000 the plastic case bottom was reinforced with a metal chassis, but the bottom of the PSP-2000 is made entirely of plastic, cutting weight by 20g. The metal chassis was removed from the UMD as well for another 16g reduction. The front-panel metal reinforcement for the LCD panel has also been removed, and the glass substrate thinned down, reducing weight by 23g.
It would normally be impossible to ensure sufficient strength by merely eliminating metal parts, and it appears that SCE engineers tweaked the design to provide the needed strength. According to the engineer,
"The PSP-1000 enhanced rigidity by combining various components like the LCD panel, case and UMD; but in the PSP-2000 rigidity is instead provided by reinforcing the bottom of the case." The bottom of the PSP-2000 is covered with reinforcing ribs, which are sufficiently strong to withstand twisting stress.
The batteries in the PSP-2000 are also 8g lighter than those in the old model, although capacity has also dropped from 1800mAh to only 1200mAh. According the SCE, however, battery drive time is the same, leading us to believe that they have found a way to reduce power consumption.
The engineer noted that the PSP central processing unit (CPU) and the 64-Mbyte memory have been implemented in a single package in the PSP-2000, explaining that the switch would reduce power consumption during memory access by the CPU.
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