Gadgets

PSP Go in Bits and Pieces

Opening the PSP Go for the teardown
Opening the PSP Go

The new PSP Go was just released today, but we’ve already torn it apart to see what’s inside.

Here are some highlights from the teardown:

  • The battery is user replaceable! All that stands between you is seven screws and the careful peeling of the Warranty Void sticker. You don’t even need a soldering iron — the battery has its own connector to the logic board.
  • The Warranty Void sticker will only rear its ugly face (show a “VOID VOID” message) if it’s peeled back more than necessary. Just slide an iPod opening tool between battery and sticker and work gently side-to-side until the battery is free from the sticker.
  • Unfortunately, Sony still uses only an 802.11b chip for wireless internet connectivity. This perhaps did not matter as much in the past. Now that there’s no UMD slot, people will have to rely on an outdated Wi-Fi chip to get content onto the PSP Go.
  • The majority of chips are covered by EMI (electromagnetic interference) shields. We had to remove a total of five shields to access the chips (thankfully, they were not soldered onto the board). By comparison, the 3rd Generation iPod touch has only one EMI shield.
PSP Go logic board in the teardown
PSP Go logic board
PSP Go teardown
The final layout