Every Saturday, PSP Fanboy will answer your burning questions. If you have a question for the team, send an e-mail to andrew @ pspfanboy.com with the subject "Ask PSP Fanboy." NOTE: We do NOT answer questions related to downloading illegal copies of games. Stop asking.

Q: I heard that the original SHARP-brand LCDs were superior to the Samsung LCDs being used in the current models. Is there any truth to these claims?
A: This is a popular discussion that's hard to follow up on, simply because its not easy to get two PSP systems from the two regions side by side. There's one picture that's used frequently to showcase the difference, but it's considered fake by many. Even people on the AVS Forums have conflicting opinions about the validity of such claims. Sorry for the lack of an answer, but suffice it to say, both screens manufactured for PSP are fantastic.


Two tiny little questions after the break.

Do you see what I see? There seems to be a very familiar looking portable device in that girl's hands. This photo was taken at Samsung's announcement of new portable hard drive tech. The 60GB version of Samsung's 1.8" N-series drives may end up in a future PSP revision, which should be enough to satiate you with days, if not weeks, of music and games and porn.

[Via Engadget]

A representative from Samsung today revealed that Sony plans to ship 20 million PSP units in 2006. Hwang Chang Gyu, head of the Korean company’s semiconductor division, was part of an equally large serving of news last year when he announced during a press conference that both companies were ensconced in one of the largest flash chip manufacturing deals ever made, purportedly even more grandiose than the one Samsung originally had with Apple Computers (a partnership which imploded when rival tech companies in Korean whined and pouted about “unfair practices”). Sony declined to comment on the news, stating only that they’ve already shipped 10 million units so far.

 C’mon, Sony. What’s another paltry 10 million additional units gonna cost you? Once you release Gran Turismo for PSP we promise we’ll get all our friends to buy a unit and put together one gigantic honking multiplayer party.

An article released yesterday from news source Bloomberg reported that Sony is currently chatting Samsung up about increasing their purchase of flash chips from the Korean company. The deal, which appears to be even bigger than the one Apple Computer struck with Samsung recently, could account for one-fifth of Samsung's NAND chip production, an arrangement that could potentially mean around $1.8 billion for Samsung's coffers. While Sony reports that the chips are for a new line of 8 GB MP3 players, the news suggests that Sony may be considering dropping the price on PSPs to meet their goals of doubling sales in 2006. The bulk purchase of the chips makes them cheaper individually, which means that the Big S may be able to shave off a few dollars per unit sold. Nothing's certain yet, but seeing as the main complaint everyone has about the PSP is its price, it seems likely that Sony will be able to push more of the consoles into gamer's hands at a cheaper, more competitive price point.

[via Punch Jump]

[UPDATE:] Read up on Engadget's take on the news.