Hey guys,
Was going to get a vita, but checking the prices for these vs prices for older psp 1000/3000 ($58- $90 pre owned), was wondering whether worth the effort to nab one of the psp's and what must have games?? (more for the jrpg's than anything else).
Had looked in the past but was a bit expensive back then....can the 3000 version be jailbroken to allow homebrew and using games imported from japan etc?.

Just remember that unless you know what to do if it happens, messing up while updating or jailbreaking a PSP CAN brick the unit...otherwise go nuts.

Both versions can be cracked easily now. Personally I prefer the 1000 model because it doesn't feel like it's going to snap in my hands and the screen doesn't have any scanlines.

For games?

Gitaroo Man: Lives
Final Fantasy Tactics (even if you have played it, new translation makes the story better)
Persona 3
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Lumines (I or II)
MGS: Peacewalker

...are all essentials in my mind.

@GameRager, you don't even need to crack the firmware now. Homebrew can be run on Official Firmware without any hacking required.

Oh and PSP is region is free. So you can import away.

I've installed CFW on my PSP, it's incredibly easy nowadays (I have a PSP 2000 model). But I do not recommend the PSP 1000, because I had that one first, and the d-pad is hilariously bad at diagonal movement. This was fixed with PSP 2000 onwards.

I'm not sure if the 3000 is equally blessed in regards to CFW (custom firmware/jailbreak).

Every PSP can be broken: (not including Vita cause i don't know about it)

http://code.google.com/p/procfw/

Monster hunter Freedom Unite (or 3rd with english translation), love this series. Better to start with unite for the English beginner school quests though ^^

My brother bought one a while ago, and during his research the conclusion he came to was that the 2000 was the best one to buy. Is there any particular reason you're only considering 1000 and 3000?

Definitely go with the 3000 over the 1000. I still like my 1000, but the 3000 is better on basically every level.

Also, as mentioned by others already, you can mod/hack any model PSP now quite safely, here's a site that I used to help my 3000 along a little bit.

For RPGs, I've gotten the Final Fantasy games (1 & 2 remakes, IV Complete, VII Crisis Core, Tactics: War of the Lions, and Dissidia Duodecim), the Star Ocean games, Lunar, the Ys titles, and Phantasy Star Portable. I couldn't get into the Monster Hunter games at all, so do be aware that it's not for everyone. There's plenty of other JRPGs out there for the system though, the Persona games, Disgaea, lots of Atlus and NIS titles, the list goes on and on.

Lot of literature mentions both, also EB who has most of the pre owned one's (i guess there's a few on ebay i can see) seem to only have 3000 & 1000 versions and the new E1000. May i ask why ur brother chose the 2000 over the other 2?

I'll have to ask him.

EDIT: He says he can't remember. XD He thinks it was that there was some kind of problem with the screens of 3000s.

EDIT2: A quick google for "psp 3000 screen problems" led me to this article:
http://www.reghardware.com/2008/10/22/psp_3000_scan_lines/

It doesn't look too bad really, I suppose it depends on whether it's the kind of thing that'd bother you.

I have a PSP 2000 and 3000. FWIW, I've never noticed scan lines on the 3000. Just the more vibrant color. I favor the 3000's screen. YMMV.

All PSPs are now capable of running custom firmware. Here's a custom firmware guide that is fairly recent and applies to all models.
http://wololo.net/wagic/cfw4dummies/

PSP 1000, 2000, 3000, & GO models all have their pluses and minuses. There is no best model.

I've heard that PSP games are not region locked. If so, you won't need custom firmware to play them.

All I have to say is take a look at a PSP3000 playing a game with lots of motion and see if the scan lines bother you... if they don't, the 3000 is a good bet.

Yeah, UMD games aren't region-locked to my knowledge, movies might be a different matter however.

I've had no issues with my 3000 screen, I had heard that people notice scanlines or something, but they've either never been prevalent or noticeable enough to bother me whatsoever.

Also, the wider range of colors is nice, it's a bit lighter than the 1000 model (possibly the 2000 model too?), and I like its wi-fi switch placement better.

I love my early 2000 model I bought for £50 a few weeks ago.
(Its early, because it can be pandora'd and permanently custom firmwared which newer models can't do)

Got a Thrustmaster Battery grip, a new bottom-bar custom theme, (with a skullcandy background to match my headphones), and a memory card adapter that lets me put two micro SDs in there.
(I got two 32gb ones in mine. Its a little slow (class 4 micro sds thats why. only 4mb write speed :( ) but 60gb of memory is nothing to scoff at! :D), but its pretty much the ultimate portable device that has a great battery life!

(but the battery grip is a bit chunky though I will admit. But it fits in my big pockets and my sidebag, so its no issue for me! XD)

EDIT: So basically, anything other than the 1000 model or the wifi-less model is good.
(But be careful not to brick certain models, as it may not be fully reversible)

EDIT 2: Also another good tip for users. "corrupt" mp3s can normally be fixed by resaving them in audacity, and missing mp3s have something to do with the folder they are in.
Move them up a directory normally fixes it.

(Also another good thing to have is PSP Video Converter. Does a great job for me! :D)

EDIT 3: Now if we can only get a MP3 playing app like LightMP3 that doesn't crash every 5 minutes, then it would be perfect.
(Sony's built in one is a bit too basic for me, and making playlists is fiddly. (One I made only had about 950 tracks recognised out of about 4000.... >:/))

EDIT 4: Games that I like on the PSP:

Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim
Gitaroo Man Lives!
Patapon 1+2
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Tactics Ogre
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (OH MY GOD! Capcom bring this back to consoles, I'm begging you! Its just one of the greatest games ever, but I am not a crab Capcom. I should not have to claw my hands to adjust the camera ever 5 minutes)

Don't foget Final Fantasy V, VI, VII, VIII and IX on PSX via PSN
And the PSP versions of I, II, and IV
(And Tactics)

quick question
whats with the region coding for the umd movies?. If i get a new one from malaysia or from hk (new)im guessing its most likely a japanese version can only play region 2 umds?