Buying a Vita FAQ (FALL 2018 EDITION)

Mostly a rewritten guide from the previous one made in 2016, just to keep up with the current situation.


>Differences between Vita 1000 and Vita 2000 models

--Vita 1000--
-OLED screen (satured colors that make them "pop") with a rather flashy brightness even when set at 0%, which make it ideal for indoor uses although not in a dark room. Will eventually worn out over a lot of use as expected of old OLED tech.
-Proprietary charge/USB slot
-No internal memory
-Wifi & 3G model available
-Weigh a little more and is thicker than its 2k sister, with silver outlines on most of its body.

--Vita 2000--
-LCD screen (colors look a little washed out compared to its). Brightness has been lowered by default, meaning its nowhere as flashy as it was the case with the 1k model, but this may be more adequate for your personal liking and uses.
-standard USB/charge slot
-1GB internal memory (that deactivates once a memory card is inserted)
-Wifi model only, 3G was dropped out. Exists in a lot of color variants although they're all Japan-only, as Europe & America only got the Black color. Last japanese models shouldnt be above 3.68 firmware if bought brand new.
-Improved battery life, generally one or two additional hours over its older 1k sister
-Lightweight but build quality is noticeably cheaper.

As announced in September 20th 2018 by SIE senior vice president Hiroyuki Oda, the Playstation Vita will be manufactured in Japan until somewhere in 2019, with no plans of a successor.


>Should I into a big memory card?
Back before h-encore was made available in July 2018, memory cards were an expensive but necessary accessory for the Vita that created a massive number of heated debates and shitposting. Before the hacks, you didnt have much a choice, Sony made proprietary bullshit and reaps the windfall from that fact. It is still ridiculous to pay a 32GB or 64GB memory card when even a 256GB microsd is cheaper these days. It also didnt help the proprietary 64GB memory card was import-only from Japan, which attracted the reputation to be "unreliable" mostly because you were gambling your money on something expensive (80 bucks minimum, shipping not included) with no means of warranty in case shit went wrong. The branch divisions in the West also made sure the game localizations were digital-only instead of also releasing a physical format, as if to sabotage even more the handheld to be truly appreciated.

To cut short, as the time of writing, the proprietary memory cards are not really recommended at all when a SD2Vita is available with a hacked system. The downside however is the SD2Vita uses the game cartridge slot meaning you cant use physical games alongside it (some SD2Vita models will not completely fit inside a Vita Slim as they bend the slot cache a bit). An alternative is available for those who own a Vita 1k 3G model with an adapter that uses the 3G slot instead.

In case you were this unlucky or stupid to get yourself into firmware 3.69 and above (or just because you're a good goy regardless), 16GB is enough for most uses. 32GB and 64GB are only for people who buy full-fledged Vita and PSP games from PSN. Indie Vita games and PS1 games eat only a few hundreds of megabytes (save for a few exceptions), so you dont have worry much about storage space with those titles. In case of running a second or third account, you will need a second (or third) memory card)

Only a few games have large +1GB updates & patches, which should be taken account even if you buy the physicals: Gundam Breaker 3 (not the Asia-English physical), Senran Kagura Estival Versus, Valkyrie Drive, Touhou Fushigi no Gensoukyou TOD Reloaded, Superbeat Xonic, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, Omega Labyrinth Z, ...


>Is the Vita region-free?
Not completely. Sony fucked customers. Your accounts are tied to your memory cards. If you're only running one account, then this means all of dick to you and you can ignore. If you plan on partaking of DLC or digital games from a different region store (EU, HK, JPN), then what you'll need is an additional memory card specifically for that region & account. Instructions on how to switch accounts on your Vita without fucking up trophies or locking permissions on your account (thus having to go through Sony CS helpdesk) are here:

http://thevitalounge.net/forum/threads/guide-switch-psn-accounts-on-vita.247/

http://archive.is/IfIxq


>Anything else to know?
If you're buying PSX games, you might want the Controller port option thingy that gives you access to the L2 and R2 buttons.  iirc Play-Asia sells them.


Hunt for a good case.  Most recommends I've seen are for the following case and game case set here:

https://www.amazon.com/Butterfox-Double-Compartment-Carry-Vita-PlayStation/dp/B007GYBTGW/ref=sr_1_1/159-6854643-1894821?ie=UTF8&qid=1470521479&sr=8-1&keywords=psvita+case&refinements=p_89%3AButterfox


With cartridge/memory card cases here:

https://www.amazon.com/Nyko-Game-Case-Vita-Sony-PS/dp/B007AJZ5PY/ref=sr_1_1/159-6854643-1894821?ie=UTF8&qid=1470521552&sr=8-1&keywords=nyko+game+case+for+psvita

I can vouch for the Nykos.  The carts are snug in their slots and don't jumble when I move about, and it's good for when you want to carry four games or so on you (it holds up to 8 with two slots for four memory cards).  It's also a small thing that, if you have a carry case with a single net (a lot of cases like to seam them in the middle), you can toss 2 Nykos in with no fitting issues and be just fine.

2018 edit - Hori also made excellent cases for game cartridges but those have been completely out of stock. You can probably find them through ebay, but only the 12-cartridges cases were affordable when I bought them a year and half ago. The 24-cartridges cases were scalped to hell and back.


>SCREEN PROTECTOR
Absolute must.  Sony-branded ones are actually the best.  No stick, no blur from heavy usage.  Had mine on for almost a year now and screen is still clear as day, and I use my Vita heavily.

https://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Vita-Protective-Film-Two-Pack/dp/B006PP404Q/ref=sr_1_1/159-6854643-1894821?ie=UTF8&qid=1470521742&sr=8-1&keywords=psvita+screen+protector

You can probably pick these up much cheaper at Wal-Mart or Target or someshit.  They're almost always on clearance because lol who carries Vita products anymore.

2018 Edit - Hori made good screen protectors for the Vita Slim model, called "Premium Film" which were fool-proof to setup.


>What about PSTV?
Pick one up while they're in the $40 range.  They basically do everything your Vita does except for the camera function and the touch screen function.  The downscale is just that: touchscreen.  There are games that rely heavy on this function that will not play well on a PSTV, and there are a healthy amount of titles that the PSTV will refuse to play.  But if you want a 720 experience while at home, it's a good investment.


>What about protective/custom cases?
This one I'm not sure on.  AmiAmi might have answers, or other people in the thread.  This is the majority of what I know.


>What about wallpapers?
Follow instructions below to make your own cool shit, use the browser to save, set it in the settings tab, enjoy.

>open 1080p wallpaper in gimp
>increase layer/canvas size by 8 pixels in the vertical direction
>scale down 50%