PS Vita Slim coming to UK

[professorhat]

Sony are releasing the PS Vita slim to the UK on February 7th at RRP of £180 - link. The slim is 20% thinner, 15% lighter and has a LCD rather than OLED screen - this cuts down costs, but on the positive side, increases the battery life by over an hour. It also does away with the 3G option.

Considering the cheaper screen + the presumably more efficient manufacturing process, £180 is bizarrely (and rather disappointingly) more expensive than you can get the current PS Vita in the UK (Amazon are selling a few packages between the £160 to £200 mark depending on the bundled game).

I'm now wondering whether to pick up one of the last few with the OLED screen and 3G, or wait till the price drops on the new version to make it more tempting. From most of what I've read, the LCD screen offers a less striking experience, but with more natural colours and obviously longer battery life has got to be a good thing. The weight, and layout of the back touch screen and a couple of the buttons also makes it an easier beast to handle.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[carter]

I've got the o led version with the 3G ,can't say I've activated the 3G yet as it's hooked upto my wifi and on the odd time I take it out I can live with out it.

as for the weight and size it's hard to say until you have both in hand but I can't say I've ever thought its to big or heavy infact I like that it feels solid.

the picture does look good,colors are sharp and motion seems ok.

I would recommend this current one however extra battery life is always a bonus.

 

[professorhat]

Cheers for thoughts - I'm erring on the side of waiting to see what happens with price. If it comes down to the £120 region I'm sold, but until then I'm just not sure I'd use it enough to justify it...

 

[Ben123]

Sooooo....Sony are being cheeky trying to charge more cash for a lower quality screen? This should be a no brainer mate, get the OLED. Check out the youtube videos of comparison and you will see the OLED is a fantastic screen. The LCD is clearly a downgrade.

 

[minidisc apologist]

^ An extra 2 hours of battery life and better ergonomics, I'm not so sure about it being a downgrade.

 

[Ben123]

Yeah i hear ya, but personally i would always take a better screen over battery life and ergonomics. The screen is THE most important aspect of the gaming experience (for me anyway). The OLED Vita's are the type of product that will be sought after once all the LEDs have flooded the market.

Sony just irked me by making a great product then removing its strongest feature on the "upgrade".

 

[professorhat]

Trouble is, I'm not sure which of the screens I'd prefer. The reports I've read are that, while the OLED has more "punch", the LCD gives more natural colours. I'd think probably most games would benefit from the former, but on the other hand, playing for longer periods would be easier on the LCD. Ideally, I'd like to actually see both before deciding, but that's probably going to be quite tricky.

I've also read several journos who have both write that they prefer the Slim version...

EDIT - just seen Amazon pre-order is £199, not £180 which is interesting - presumably this will drop since pre-order at Game is £179.99. Meanwhile cheapest older model is £129.85 at ShopTo or £149.00 at Game (with bundled game).

 

[Ben123]

Hopefully its ok to post youtube vids on this forum, here is a 1080p video showing the differences. You can actually see the pixels on the LCD whereas the OLED looks like a smooth plasma screen. Also the OLED has nice deep black colours which the LCD cant reproduce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa8ue0rPVgA

All im saying is that sony should have kept the OLED and still made it slimmer with better battery life.

 

[professorhat]

I understand the point you're trying to make, but I'd always be extremely wary of video comparisons like that. For example, watch this comparison and you can't see any of the lines that are very apparent on your version (though the difference in colours is very noticeable) - it could just be a limitation of the videoing process that's causing this effect in the one you posted, so it might look nothing like this. It could be someone has a bit of an agenda and has "tampered" with the video on one to enhance the differences, or "tampered" the one I've posted above to make them look more similar. Or it could be that that is exactly how it looks and the first video is accurate. The trouble is, the only way to truly know is to actually see them both in the flesh.

Actually for me, I think the ergonomics and battery life would be more important than the screen - being able to comfortably hold and play the thing would determine how much I was likely to use it, more so than the depth of the colours etc. After all, for proper decent graphics, I'd be looking at using my PS4. The Vita would just be something to entertain me on the train etc. so I'd be willing to compromise the screen quality for easier and longer playability. I also like that the new Vita requires a standard micro USB cable to charge rather than a proprietary one, meaning one less cable to remember to carry round when travelling.

It's all academic at the moment though, as I've decided they're both too expensive to consider at the moment. If it gets to £100 (or say £125 + a decent game), then I may well reconsider.

 

[lonely boy]

In direct comparison, the LCD is certainly a downgrade, with noticeably worse black levels and a yellowy cast to the colours. But it's still a very good screen and arguably easier on the eyes over long periods of time.

I own both models and much prefer the form factor of the slim, I'm quite happy with it for traveling, the OLED stays at home.