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[Frizzie]

Hi,

I am seriously thinking about treating myself to a used PS Vita in the next few months. I have looked at what's available and I think the following model will be best if I go for it.

PS Vita Slim Version PCH2016 + Charger + 8GB storage card

I think the slim version will be better as it will be newer but has the LCD screen instead of the OLED one. I'm a bit concerned about the firmware as sales pages I have seen have stated different versions and I admit I am clueless on this. I don't mind some scratches on the casing but would like a perfect screen.

I just want to make sure there no pitfalls with buying a used Vita I might unknowingly walk into. Thanks

 

[michaelius]

Try to get bundle with big memory card - getting new one will be problematic and most people will want to sell whole set.

 

[Frizzie]

Try to get bundle with big memory card - getting new one will be problematic and most people will want to sell whole set.

OK. I know they are expensive new. Where I have been looking does have some with an 8GB card. I am a game finisher (if that's a thing) so my habbit tends to be to fully complete a game before moving on. This usually means I do not have many games going at once and I am able to delete what I have finished before moving on. Hopefully this will mean I will not require huge amounts of space.

 

[Ozrimandias]

Such a great handheld console.
There is a Hori r2 l2 grip, It is a must buy if you want to remote play.

Also, Vita are increasing its value over time because of Homebrew, so grab one fast, the more time passes, the higher the price.

As an example, PS Vita tv where very cheap about 2 years ago, after Henkkaku wich can transform a Vita tv in the best retro console out there with Retroarch, are a valuable piece of tech right now.

 

[Shin]

Do you have a price range you want to stick to since there's used and refurbished, the latter might be a better middle ground.
An 8Gb card is $21 on Amazon of which better deals can be found as well, that should bring it to +- $150.
While I don't use mine often the front doesn't have any scratches (without casing), but the back has a tiny scratch from putting it down on the table.

 

[Frizzie]

Such a great handheld console.
There is a Hori r2 l2 grip, It is a must buy if you want to remote play.

Also, Vita are increasing its value over time because of Homebrew, so grab one fast, the more time passes, the higher the price.

As an example, PS Vita tv where very cheap about 2 years ago, after Henkkaku wich can transform a Vita tv in the best retro console out there with Retroarch, are a valuable piece of tech right now.

Homebrew. Now you're talking above my pay grade

I really have no idea about anything like that. I would prefer just to plug and play so to speak. You make a good point though as I would want one that hadn't been tampered with if that makes any sense??

Do you have a price range you want to stick to since there's used and refurbished, the latter might be a better middle ground.
An 8Gb card is $21 on Amazon of which better deals can be found as well, that should bring it to +- $150.
While I don't use mine often the front doesn't have any scratches (without casing), but the back has a tiny scratch from putting it down on the table.

For a used up to about £80. The one I have seen above was £74.99 with the 8gb card. Good point about refurbished and used but I cannot find and refurbs at the moment.

 

[cireza]

Best handheld ever. I strongly recommend the OLED screen, it makes a huge difference. You will need a memory card, I would not recommend 64 GB because many users had problems with them. 32 GB is plenty, and you can buy games on cartridge too.

 

[Ozrimandias]

Homebrew. Now you're talking above my pay grade

I really have no idea about anything like I would prefer just to plug and play so to speak. You make a good point though as I would want one that hadn't been tampered with if that makes any sense??
.

If you want the purest experience with the PS Vita then:

If you're familiar with other consoles, you may want a grip, wich simulates a console control, is easy to use and ergonomic
Also, a good par of earphones, some bluetooth earphones work, well, but a wired pair one is better.
A case

I went mostly digital with the ps vita, al my games are loaded in its memory (wich are expensive) on the contrary, you can always buy some used psvita card games.

On that, you can choose among a variety of games, some of them are unmisseable like Uncharted Golden Abyss, Killzone, Gravity Rush among others.

 

[Frizzie]

Best handheld ever. I strongly recommend the OLED screen, it makes a huge difference. You will need a memory card, I would not recommend 64 GB because many users had problems with them. 32 GB is plenty, and you can buy games on cartridge too.

Oh man that's thrown the cat amongst the pigeons!

I was wondering if the screen type made a big difference. So I would need the Original model for that I think?

If you want the purest experience with the PS Vita then:

If you're familiar with other consoles, you may want a grip, wich simulates a console control, is easy to use and ergonomic
Also, a good par of earphones, some bluetooth earphones work, well, but a wired pair one is better.
A case

I went mostly digital with the ps vita, al my games are loaded in its memory (wich are expensive) on the contrary, you can always buy some used psvita card games.

On that, you can choose among a variety of games, some of them are unmisseable like Uncharted Golden Abyss, Killzone, Gravity Rush among others.

In regards to the games. Is the Vita region free in regards to them? I have imported games for my PSP in the past.

Gravity Rush. Now that's a game I see mentioned in high regard over and over. It will be a must buy.

 

[cireza]

So I would need the Original model for that I think?

Different persons will have different opinions, but to me what you gain with the slimmer model does not make it worth the loss of the OLED screen.

The OLED screen has extremely vibrant and pretty colors, I had both consoles and it is definitely a very superior screen. I only kept the OLED one in the end.

 

[Cattlyst]

If you buy any used carts that won't let you get trophies (some give a warning that trophies aren't available), simply delete the game once it has installed to the main screen (press and hold on the icon and then delete it), remove the cart and then put it in again. It'll now let you get trophies as if it was a brand new cart. Note this is only an issue on certain games.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Go lcd over oled imo. When i was a big vita player i remember people saying the slim was better in all regards. Most importantly it didnt require a proprietary charger, which tended to fall apart over lots of use. I think battry life was better as well. The general consensus was if youve never experienced the oled you wont miss it because the lcd is still great. Oleds may have burn in too.

Ive been out of the vita world for a long while so not too familiar with it anymore

Id suggest

Killzone is a must get
Gravity rush
Tearaway
Uncharted golden abyss
Hot shots world invitational
Ys

 

[trikster40]

Wholeheartedly agree with LCD over the OLED version. While I prefer the OLED screen, everything else about the newer version is better.

I completely agree about the need for a bigger memory card. That 8gb will go fast.

Check and see if you’ve already got some cross-but games if you’ve been buying digitally on PS4. You may already have a decent size library and not even know it

 

[Northeastmonk]

If you get a PSTV you can swap your memory cards out. You can play a bunch of your Vita games on your TV with the Dualshock 3. I was doing this with a lot of the PSP titles I have digitally and Freedom Wars. You'll need a good screen protector and a case. I have a plastic grip on mine. You can probably find a cheap one on eBay. I have the Uncharted bundle. I wanted the larger Start and Select buttons, but it isn't a huge deal to me. Some of the grips make it hard to put the Vita in its case once you're done playing for the day.

 

[Endless Fluff]

Do not pick the OLED over the LCD, especially if you want to play in a dim room at nights before you go sleep. The OLED panel used in the Vita is cheap and suffers from the so called mura-effect. Mine has this as well and the two OLED Vitas I've bought used also have it. You don't see this in a well lit room, but damn is it annoying af when it is darker.

There's a thread on the playstation forums with someone taking (overexposed) pictures of his Vita which show this problem.
https://community.eu.playstation.co...D-screen-is-perfect-Think-again/td-p/15220677

 

[The Snake]

I would agree with an above poster and say that NOW is the time to get one, as an EOL exploit for hacking the newest firmware was recently announced and is supposedly coming in the next few weeks. This will drive the price of the system up a bit, I think.

 

[Rodolink]

You cant uninstall games and keep their save files! (you need a computer or PS plus to backup the whole game or save file respectively), so a big memory card is a must!

OLED screen is still the best mobile screen so I wouldnt sacrifice OLED for the newset model.

Tearaway and Gravity Rush are great.

Other than that I mostly use it to play PSX games

 

[Frizzie]

Thanks to everyone for the advice so far. Another thing I keep seeing is "WiFi only". These units seem to be cheaper. I have looked it up but I do not fully understand it.

I do not play multiplayer either so would I be fine with this WiFi only model?

 

[The Snake]

You cant uninstall games and keep their save files! (you need a computer or PS plus to backup the whole game or save file respectively), so a big memory card is a must!

OLED screen is still the best mobile screen so I wouldnt sacrifice OLED for the newset model.

Tearaway and Gravity Rush are great.

Other than that I mostly use it to play PSX games

Wait, what? I've uninstalled and re-installed numerous games over the years and I've always kept my save files. Maybe I misunderstood what you're saying?

 

[The Snake]

Thanks to everyone for the advice so far. Another thing I keep seeing is "WiFi only". These units seem to be cheaper. I have looked it up but I do not fully understand it.

I do not play multiplayer either so would I be fine with this WiFi only model?

There were other models that you could purchase a subscription for, like for your phone. They had pretty lofty goals for this thing when it first launched.

The Wi-Fi model should be just fine.

 

[CRON]

If you're not into JRPGs and Visual Novels, the Vita is NOT worth it.

 

[The Snake]

If you're not into JRPGs and Visual Novels, the Vita is NOT worth it.

I'm gonna go ahead and say that anybody with a Folklore avatar will feel right at home with a Vita.

 

[Frizzie]

There were other models that you could purchase a subscription for, like for your phone. They had pretty lofty goals for this thing when it first launched.

The Wi-Fi model should be just fine.

Thanks. I have never owned a smartphone which helps to explain why I'm so clueless about it. I originally thought it meant digital games only embarrassing.

If you're not into JRPGs and Visual Novels, the Vita is NOT worth it.

That's exactly why I want one

I'm gonna go ahead and say that anybody with a Folklore avatar will feel right at home with a Vita.

There's the nail, there's the head..... You hit it

 

[llien]

The OLED panel used in the Vita is cheap and suffers from the so called mura-effect

Hm, never had issues playing it in the dark.
Heard about mura effect but never seen it (and didn't google it not to start seeing it )

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Unless you need ALL GAMES AVAILABLE (even though half of them havent been played in years) 8 gigs is plenty. Persona 4 is like 3.1 gigs as reference, so there is plenty of space left over for other games - Vita games are usually smaller in size. Expect to fit either two large full featured games and maybe a couple small ones, or one large game and a decent amount of smaller games. Steins;Gate is around 2 gigs I think, as another reference point.

Also with the Slim you don't need a charger really since it's USB.

 

[Rodolink]

Wait, what? I've uninstalled and re-installed numerous games over the years and I've always kept my save files. Maybe I misunderstood what you're saying?

What?! really?! I've actually never uninstalled and reinstalled a game for this reason so I cant really know. Also I only have digital ones.

 

[Frizzie]

To those who said they would sell quick....

I have found only 2 refurbs online in the UK so far. That was about 2 hours ago. They have both sold......... Hells bells!

Looks like used it will be then.

 

[cireza]

If you're not into JRPGs and Visual Novels, the Vita is NOT worth it.

The Vita library is not summarized as RPGs and VNs. There are other kind of games that are perfectly fine on it.

 

[The Snake]

To those who said they would sell quick....

I have found only 2 refurbs online in the UK so far. That was about 2 hours ago. They have both sold......... Hells bells!

Looks like used it will be then.

Yeah, the EOL exploit news is pretty recent so I think a lot of people are buying right now. It'll only get harder/more expensive!

 

[The Snake]

The Vita library is not summarized as RPGs and VNs. There are other kind of games that are perfectly fine on it.

Yeah, that's pretty reductive honestly. There's a great variety of content on the Vita.

Also keep in mind that it makes one hell of a portable emulation machine, if you're into that.

 

[V2Tommy]

I couldn't stand the OLED Vita's gross mura issues, but the LCD one is lovely with its warm color temperature. Highly recommended.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

You can get a lot of physical games cheap but some of the rarer ones are starting to go up in price, particularly Vanillaware's games.

 

[cireza]

I personally find the colors to be much better on OLED, especially for anything 2D where it is absolutely obvious. Mura effect means that the blacks tend to go green in the lowest brightness setting. This is not a big issue to me. Again, it will depend on each person.

I found the LCD screen to have much more motion blur than the OLED one. If you dislike blur, do not go the LCD route. LCD also has a yellow tint, while OLED while display perfect whites.

 

[Endless Fluff]

Mura effect means that the blacks tend to go green in the lowest brightness setting. This is not a big issue to me. Again, it will depend on each person.

No, the mura-effect means "clouding". You get white splotches on dark backgrounds and it gets more noticeable when you turn your brightness up (especially in a dark room). The green tint you see in pictures when you google it comes from over exposure with shitty smartphone cameras.
On OLED it comes from an uneven current distribution to the OLED cells (LCDs get clouding from uneven backlighting), which makes some pixels brighter than others on black backgrounds, hence you get grey clouds.

 

[Shai-Tan]

My original model vita started having problems charging a few years ago. Make sure it's a newer vita because originals lithium batteries are probably going bad (my problems weren't just with the battery - it would freeze when power was plugged in, fail to start charging, etc)

 

[PleaseDontBanMe]

Any advice on how to remove blemishes from the screen?

 

[cireza]

hence you get grey clouds.

Pretry much what I was saying except I find them greenish. Still not a big flaw to me.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Loved my vita!!!! Too bad I stepped on it during a drunken night . I used it alot, more than any handheld I ever had and the quality and build of the original was so high end imo. When you held it and looked at it it felt quality. Good investment bro, I myself will be getting another when I have disposable cash.

Unit 13 was fun
Killzone mercenary is console quality on the go
Soul sacrifice was so good if you love monster hunter type games.

 

[leo-j]

I legit got my PS VITA slim in 2016 to use it with PS NOW, and then they removed PS NOW a year ago from the vita...... ugh great controls for game streaming.

 

[Susurrus]

Obviously the memory card size will determine how many games you can store on it, but make sure you get the Content Manager Assistant so you can store more games on your computer instead of having to find and download them from the store every time. There's also a built in one to the PS3 if that works better for you.

Just be warned that for Vita games, the save goes with the game w/ the exception of the save backup to the cloud, so if you delete a game, make sure you either copied it to the Content Manager or backed up the save to the cloud.

 

[michaelius]

OK. I know they are expensive new. Where I have been looking does have some with an 8GB card. I am a game finisher (if that's a thing) so my habbit tends to be to fully complete a game before moving on. This usually means I do not have many games going at once and I am able to delete what I have finished before moving on. Hopefully this will mean I will not require huge amounts of space.

Remember some of the Vita games reach 4GB mark before patches. From my experience

8GB is extremely restrictive I only use that for PS TV
16GB is what I had on my launch Vita and this was comfortable minimum
32GB is what I have now - this is optimal size I can keep several games before running out of space
64GB - biggest they get would be cool to have but not worth money if you have 16-32

 

[sublimit]

OK. I know they are expensive new. Where I have been looking does have some with an 8GB card. I am a game finisher (if that's a thing) so my habbit tends to be to fully complete a game before moving on. This usually means I do not have many games going at once and I am able to delete what I have finished before moving on. Hopefully this will mean I will not require huge amounts of space.

You are good to go then!Most games are not that big in file size so you'd still be able to store quite a few.And if you go for physical games like i do even a 4GB could be enough.Especially if you have the good habbit to finish a game before you move on to the next.
When i had a 4GB card i was like that too but evr since i got a 64GB i have been jumping from game to game and not actually finishing anything. :/

Also OLED Vita is a bit overrated. Sure colors look a bit better but if you don't have both models side by side to compare them then the Slim looks great too. Not to mention that most of the OLED Vitas (like mine) have some black spots that appear when the screen turns completely black.Slim also has better battery life although i'm also satisfied with my OLED battery.

All in all this is the best handheld ever made for me and it's definitely worth to buy it!

 

[Frizzie]

Thanks for all of your comments I know what it is I need now, you have been a great help.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

I have a question regarding Vita TV. (Sorry for the off topic response)

I own one and could use it on my old Goodmans TV of 10 years.

I now own a Sony Bravia whoch will let me play the Vita TV no mattwr what I do.

I heard it is a licensing problem for the HDMI cables (is it HDCP or something?). Surely the Vita TV is compatable with another Sony device?

I wamt to hack it but if I can't use it wheat is the point?

Any advice is appreciated.

Regarding the OP. Try and get any physical game fast as they are going to rise in cost once the games stop being manufactured in Japan/Asia.

 

[Susurrus]

I have a question regarding Vita TV. (Sorry for the off topic response)

I own one and could use it on my old Goodmans TV of 10 years.

I now own a Sony Bravia whoch will let me play the Vita TV no mattwr what I do.

I heard it is a licensing problem for the HDMI cables (is it HDCP or something?). Surely the Vita TV is compatable with another Sony device?

I wamt to hack it but if I can't use it wheat is the point?

Any advice is appreciated.

Regarding the OP. Try and get any physical game fast as they are going to rise in cost once the games stop being manufactured in Japan/Asia.

A bit confused, but are you having problems getting it to display?

Try different HDMI cables. Do other devices work on the same HDMI port on the TV?
The only other thing I can think of is whatever resolution you have the PSTV set to isn't compatible with your Bravia, maybe try hooking it up to your other TV and changing the resolution settings?

 

[Starlight Lotice]

A bit confused, but are you having problems getting it to display?

Try different HDMI cables. Do other devices work on the same HDMI port on the TV?
The only other thing I can think of is whatever resolution you have the PSTV set to isn't compatible with your Bravia, maybe try hooking it up to your other TV and changing the resolution settings?

I have tried different cables and the port works on everything else.

I may have to use another TV and see if it is the resolution. I think the Bravia sets it automatically which I have tried to mess about with in the past.

Funnily enough the Switch and PS4 are named on the TV when switched on but not the PSTV.

Wonder if Sony forgot to make it compatible?