Incomplete Gamer

My PSPgo up and died the other day.  The battery simply gave up the ghost.  It would power on as long as it was tethered to the nearest power outlet but the orange indicator light which would normally indicate recharging in progress was no where to be seen, and as soon as you removed the electric life line the PSPgo would shut down quicker than an Icelandic financial institution.  I knew the battery was the culprit and not the cable, because, using the same cable I had no trouble powering my 2nd PSPgo (don’t ask…someone has to take up the slack…we PSPgo early adopters are a rare breed).

Now here’s the kicker.  There are two ways to recharge a PSPgo – either directly into the power socket, or via your PC’s USB port.  When your battery has enough charge to power the unit up, then your PC will be perfectly happy to both trickle charge the battery and let you synch your data, game saves, games and other media to your heart’s content.  However if you are unlucky enough to find yourself in my shoes with a battery that’s all out of juice, then your PC USB sockets won’t be capable of jump starting your handheld into life.

If you’re the kind of person who backs up his data on a regular basis, then you’ll be fine, but if you’re not ‘that guy’ (so  pretty much everyone else on the planet) then your in deep doggy doo.  Read on, and hopefully you won’t make the same mistake.

So I make a quick call to the Sony support line.  The good news is it’s still under warranty.  Purchased in October, the battery has only lasted a little over five months.   The bad news is they’d like me to send it in to them and they’ll take a look.  The promise is that as long as I haven’t tried to drown it in the bath or back over it in the driveway, they’ll send me out a refurbished unit.  I don’t want a bloody refurbished unit.  I bought a new one only five months ago and I’ve given it the right royal treatment – leather case, careful handling, chocolate truffles, I even bought it the official cradle – and now my reward is to get it swapped for someone else’s.  Annoyingly, I actually sprung for GAME’s extended warranty.  If the unit fails after October 2010, GAME will give me a brand new PSPgo right there in the store.  This time however I’m stuck with Sony’s offer of a refurb.

Now I’ve done the right thing with the PSPgo (not that I had much choice once I’d traded in my original PSP’s) but I’ve downloaded a few games, Gran Turismo, Assassin’s Creed, a couple of Syphon Filter titles and Resistance Retribution. There’s a cool 6 or 7 gig of data right there.  No biggy.  I’m on a fairly generous plan with TPG.  Still, re-downloading  the content – some of which has to be done through the PC is a right pain.

Still,  to ensure that no one ends up with my content, I wipe the memory.  I don’t want to get a refurbished unit back in a couple of weeks, only to find I can’t download my content because it’s now associated with someone else.  The biggest loss is my save files.  I as able to rescue a few older ones from a folder in the dark corners of my laptop, but the rest are gone forever.

Sony want me to hand the provide consignment note , console and cables to my nearest Australia Post branch.  Apparently they will box it up and send it off to Sony on my behalf.  I’m not so sure this is a great idea.  While my local postie is regular – I get mail most every day – very little of the letters I receive are actually for me.  I’m not quite sure whether it’s deliberate, or just extreme incompetence, but I’m not filled with confidence either way.  I decide to drop the handheld into GAME in Tuggeranong to let them sort it out.

Unfortunately GAME ring the very same Sony support number I rang an hour or so ago… 20 minutes later and I’m informed that the Game staff member will take the console off to the post office and hand it over the counter.  All I seem to have achieved is to add an extra pair of hands into the equation.  With an assurance that my PSPgo should be back in a couple of weeks, and with nothing more than the original receipt I walked into the store with, thirty minutes prior, I depart.

Two weeks on and my PSPgo is back at home.  It’s good to have it back, but I can’t say I’m too impressed with the battery failing so early in it’s life.  Here’s hoping the unit was just a rare dud.