NEO-PSP pad 4GB or Datel's 4GB HD?

[problemchild]

I was trying to figure out which one should I spend my money on. The NEO-PSP pad 4GB 4 in 1 pad comes with a 4GB microdive for $179.99, but doesn't come out until November something. Or should I get the Datel 4GB HD that is out now. By the way does anybody have the Datel?

[hedphlegm]

I have the Datel. Just got 4 days ago. It works flawlessly for homebrew and iso's, though loading times are noticeable slower. Still much faster than umd, i'd estimate 3 times faster. Writing times when putting isos on it seem very slowe compared to memory stick. I timed it using diffferent sized files just to have some reference in case my unit turned out to be defective.

Using a G5 Mac or 1.5GHZ Powerbook with the USB 2.0 cable included with the Datel drive:

Writing to Datel: 1MB/sec (100MB file, 1.59GB iso)
Writing to MS: 3MB/sec (100MB, 900MB)

The 1.59GB Colin Mcrae iso took about 31 minutes to put on the Datel, a sobering example of getting what one pays for.

City loading times in Midnight Club 3 (UMD vs. full iso)
UMD (about 70 seconds)
MS 10-12 seconds
ISO 30 seconds

In other games, the difference between MS and the Datel was not as great. Subjectively the thing seems acceptably fast for using iso's, considering that MS loading times are often only 3-7 seconds, but there are times when you sit there thinking it would be nice to have a MS in the slot.

Movies and music play smoothly, though I haven't tried high bitrate or AVC since my PSP is 1.5 right now.

The thing doesn't add much weight at all, only about 20-30% extra to the PSP. If you remove the battery and use just the HD, the total weight is only about 10% greater (the HD is light as hell!). The battery is the heavy mo fo.

I had some alarming problems the first day I got it. After loading Medievil and Mcrae full isos, the bad Mcrae iso froze and when I rebooted, the Datel HD reported 3800MB free (!) and both iso's had gotten zeroed. After that there weren't many problems.

Later when i have time I'll mention a few of the physicaqlly adjustments I've had to make, such as having to contort the thing and twist it a bit every time I want to remove the MS adaptor and put in a MS.
So it's not so easy to swap it in and out if you have 3 other 1 GB mem sticks as do I.

I do recommend it, the battery alone is worth $50 in my opinion. I was able to play wipeout and other games on xlink (wifi on!) at full brightness and high volume for more than 7 hours on a single charge during a recent (and unusual) binge.

However, the product is definitely for those who need immediate gratication of their storage needs, and if you don't mind wating several months, your patience will probably be rewarded by something faster and smaller. It bears mentioning that the datel's connector allows use of compact flash drives, the 4GB ones of which can be gotten for as little as $150 online.

[mattdpage]

Maybe I have big hands but that little cable that goes out from the memory stick slot and into the hd seems to get in the way of me gripping the psp comfortably..

The cable has to be tough and curves at an angle and can not be flattened.

Do other people have the same problem ??

[Xenn0X]

31 min? ffs i fill it in 14 min with 4 gb of data. you prolly don't have USB 2.0

[silentace]

31 min? ffs i fill it in 14 min with 4 gb of data. you prolly don't have USB 2.0

yeah was thinking the same thing, i have the datel hdd and i love it, took 4 minutes to load 400 meg onto it, pretty decent speed