Those of you who have not yet bought a PSP and have come across this site looking for information about Sony’s portable handheld, or even those of you who already have a PSP but are looking for more information about it, may be interested in a book published by Rough Guides called ‘The Rough Guide to the PSP, Playstation Portable’.

The book covers pretty much all aspects of the PSP, from buying through to homebrew, and is small enough to slip into your pocket, should you want to take it on the road with you for a quick flick through when you have a moment spare.

Written by Nicholas Gilewicz and Sean Mahoney, the Rough Guide to the PSP is 210 pages filled with informative hints and tips on getting the most out of your Playstation Portable.

The chapters are as follows:

• Basics and Buying
• Using the PSP
• Games
• Video, Audio and Photos
• Networking
• Firmware, Software and Homebrew
• Extras
• First Aid
• Resources

While owners of Sony PSP’s will find little of interest in the first chapter, anyone looking at buying their first PSP will find it invaluable for getting an insight into what the PSP is all about.

While each chapter is fairly short, the book does mange to cover quite a bit of detail in some areas such as the Audio and Video sections.

Perhaps the only fault I can pick with the book is that it doesn’t go into enough detail on the homebrew capabilities of the PSP. While I can understand that the authors may have been wary of overstepping the mark in this respect, its unfortunate that more of the book couldn’t be devoted to the world of the home software developer.

At the same time, with the way homebrew software changes so quickly, its perhaps wiser to not dwell in too much detail on homebrew, and simply highlighting its availability and capability will be enough to drive the casual PSP user to the web to find more details.

The book does cover the various firmware versions that have been released by Sony, upto and including the latest (at the moment) firmware 2.71. With the imminent release of another firmware update from Sony at the end of this week (27th July), the book will be out of date in regard to firmware versions quite quickly. Again, this is the downside of the written word.

The book talks about the availability of a downgrader for version 2.0 to version 1.5 of the PSP firmware, but fails to mention the latest developments and the ability to now downgrade version 2.5/2.6 PSP’s to version 1.5, and the continual improvements in custom firmware patches. Hopefully this will be remedied when the second edition gets published, as this is a major step forward for the PSP community and the book is incomplete without this information.

So, would I recommend you buy this book, the Rough Guide to the PSP? If you are a prospective PSP purchaser, or a relatively new PSP owner, then this guide is ideal for you. It covers almost everything you need to know, and will at least get you started on the homebrew culture that exists.

Seasoned PSP owners may find the book doesn’t add much to their knowledge, so its recommended that they try before they buy. Of course, give its retail price (£5.99), its perhaps the ideal present to buy a PSP owner for Birthday or Christmas.

The Rough Guide to the PSP is available from all good bookstores. ISBN number 1-84353-754-0. Website: Roughguides.com