I've had mine now for a couple days and I'm very happy with it. Initially I bought a different "grip and recharger" for $16 + shipping but one of the four clips broke off after just a week so now it's basically unuseable. Plus the battery in the other device was questionable. So I've been looking for an alternative and for the most part I think I found it.
Pros
• Goodbye hand cramps! No more accidentally hitting the power switch.
• Surprisingly, the air cooling works pretty well (there's a separate on/off switch for this).
• Holds PSP extremely securely.
• Excellent build quality, nothing to break off.
• Comes with a car charger, works with your PSP charger.
• Keeps your PSP charged while not in use.
Cons
• It's huge, very. It can travel in your book bag or laptop case but not in your pocket.
• Will need to undock to access UMD slot.
• Battery status LEDs on top too bright and distracting (I covered it with black electrical tape).
• Speakers are lower quality than PSP's, no way to circumvent except to use headphones. BUT they are useable, just not great...think "tinny."
What I would improve
• Remove the air cooling. It's too big and only somewhat useful.
• Move the batteries to the handles (currently used to direct cooling air) to make the device flatter and more portable.
• Improve the speakers or allow them to be bypassed in favor of the PSP's speakers.
The grip comes with four generic 1600 mAh 1.2 v NiMH rechargeable batteries. I switched them out with my own Rayovac 15 min rechargeable 2000 mAh 1.2 v NiMH batteries. Considering that the PSP's own battery is only 1800 mAh at 3.6 v. Compared to the internal batteries my set-up delivers an additional 148% more battery power. So power plus ergonomics, not bad!
Lastly, I bought mine for $37 + $10 shipping at PSPgripdock.com that somebody had linked to. It seemed kinda sketchy so I called the owner of the website and he sounds like a young guy but honest so I gave it a try via PayPal. He sent it with FedEx tracking and I received it two days later. The label suggests it was sent directly from Vector Manufacturing. So from my limited experience with this guy I would give him the thumbs up as an honest retailer.
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