Sony PlayStation Vita Wi-Fi (Renewed)

The unit itself was in near flawless condition, pretty impressed actually. I originally purchased the newer slim model but I didn’t like the way it felt in my hands and it just felt a little cheap (The PS button was squeaky and the system froze a few times), so I returned it. But not this older unit. The 1001 model feels better in my hands, works perfectly, holds a good charge and a firm PS button click, feels well made and built to last if taken of properly. My only gripe with the refurbished model, at least in my case, the USB cable was an aftermarket cable, felt real cheap and flimsy. The connector end that goes into the Vita was very hard to insert and remove and when I tried charging the Vita and playing games at the same time the Vita would go haywire, controls were severely erratic, totally unplayable. I was bummed about that, so I bought an official Sony USB cable for it and voila, no issues charging and playing games at the same time and the connector goes in and out of the unit easier.My take on this, go for the older model, feels well made, has a better screen and yes there is a slight difference from the Slim model. If you’re worried about the USB cable, check with the seller and make sure it’s an Sony OEM cable.Also, if you’re concerned about the battery life, Amazon has a few sellers selling new batteries for $10-$15. There’s a few good YouTube videos that show you how to replace them, seems simple enough if you take your time. I actually bought a new battery just in case this one decides to fail in the near future, but so far I get about 2 1/2 – 3hrs of playing before I have to charge.Hope this helps anyone looking to get this unit.

Very Happy with it. its in perfect condition and the packaging was perfect.

My old Vita stopped working back in 2013, or so I thought, and that urge to play MLB The Show, Mortal Kombat and Call of Duty Multiplayer on-the-go was just hitting deafening levels inside of my head. Finally broke down and reclaimed what was rightfully mine one impulsive weekend. Wife wasn’t too thrilled at first but when I told her that I don’t even need a PS4 anymore (for now) she was cool with it. Made sure to get the warranty this time. And after using the new charger on the old Vita, apparently all I needed was a charger all these years. Now my son has a Vita which he seems to like way more than his DS. And I know the handheld gaming industry is supposedly dying out because of mobile gaming, but nothing could ever come close to a true portable console.

The older model (this one) is absolutely, without a doubt worth getting over the newer model. I have a Sony 60″ LCD television. I would much prefer to watch films and game on my Vita because the screen is *so* much nicer.Screens aside, I love my Vita. It’s exactly the right size/weight to play on the bus/plane. The battery life does leave something to be desired, so if that’s the determining factor for you, you might want to consider the newer “Slim” model.The game library is extensive. Games load quickly and run flawlessly.

The refurbished OLED Vita that I bought came without any issues whatsoever. It’s a great portable console, and the library of games now is huge. It has a touch-screen, as well as a touch-surface on its back. Best of all, the price was low and affordable.Why buy a Refurbished OLED Vita?The original Vita comes with a fantastic OLED screen instead of the newer, Vita Slim which has a good, but cheaper-to-produce LCD screen. When compared side-by-side, its really no contest – the OLED is simply better-looking. However, brand-new OLED Vitas are hard to find, and they are often priced extremely high. Buying a refurbished OLED Vita like I did allowed me to pay only a fraction of the money. What’s more, the unit I got was pretty much flawless – I could not discern any sort of previous usage. It came with a charger, a warranty card (the seller I bought it from gave me a 90-day warranty), and easy-to-open packaging.Games – big library; many of which are discounted.The main reason that the Vita is a good portable system is the game library. There are well over 1000 Vita games at the time of this writing. Add in the ability to play PSP games as well as games designed to be played cross-platform – and you truly have a huge selection. Best of all, many of the more popular Vita games can be found at a significant discount. Games like Gravity Rush, Persona 4 Golden, Killzone: Mercenary, Tearaway, and more can be bought for around $20-$25 brand new.Play Japanese games on a US Vita (technically possible, but it can be a pain)One of the best things about the Vita is that it has no inherent region-lock. This means you can play Japanese games on a US Vita. The catch is that DLC, or updates for most Japanese games are available on the Japanese PSN Store exclusively. To make things worse, the Vita can be tied to only one of the stores – not both. This means that bouncing between the US and Japanese PSN stores is quite a chore – just to get updates and DLC. It involves backing up all your data, then resetting your Vita to factory defaults; creating a new account on the other store, and logging into it with the Vita. Then there’s the issue that the Japanese PSN Store may not take your credit card – in which case you have to buy Japanese PSN Cards. While it’s not hard to get these cards – it’s still another step in a long process for getting updates and DLC for Japanese games.StorageThe OLED Vita does not have any sort of memory built-in which means buying a memory card is required. The Vita Slim however, does come with 1gb of internal storage, but it’s definitely not enough if you want to download games from PSN. Unfortunately, the memory cards for the Vita are quite expensive. For this reason many people buy the 16GB card – its somewhat of a good dollar-per-gigabyte ratio. Most Vita games are around 2gb in size. Some of the larger games are about 3-4gb.ControlsMost of the games that I have played work well with the Vita’s controls. Everything feels generally good. However, I do feel that the two analog sticks are a bit looser than what I prefer. It’s not horribly bad – but I think most users would prefer a tighter, firmer analog sticks. Games which require precision aiming (such as FPS games) can take a bit of getting used to – but it only takes a little while to get used to the looseness.Playing Music, Video, Browsing the Internet, etc.The Vita can do almost everything a smartphone can do – just not as well. It’s focus is purely on playing games (no surprise) which means everything else takes a backseat. It has a music app, but the functions are basic, and there are no downloadable or automatic playlists – you have to manage it all yourself. I found the sound to be good, but then again there are no controls for bass or treble. Also, the placement of the headphone jack (in the middle of bottom side) makes it difficult to have headphones plugged in while the Vita is in your pocket (the plug to my headphones would stick out uncomfortably). Surfing the web works, but websites that rely heavily on Adobe Flash (which isn’t officially supported on the Vita) can be problematic. (The Vita’s touch screen however works quite well when surfing the Internet.) And while watching video is generally good, many smartphones these days actually have a higher resolution screen than the Vita (though, the OLED Screen on the Vita definitely makes colors look great). Suffice to say, the Vita won’t replace any modern smartphone for music, video, and web surfing capability.PC ConnectivityThe Vita uses Sony’s free downloadable app called Content Manager Assistant. With this, the Vita can connect to a PC or Mac via USB or wirelessly. Using the wireless connection is surprisingly easy, and I can copy music, video, etc to the Vita with no problems at all. What’s more, the Vita can also stream music and movies that reside on the connected computer itself. Obviously your Wifi has to be fast enough this, but it is possible. I watched several movies on the Vita this way.Battery LifeA full charge lasts me about 3-4 consecutive hours, depending on the game. This translates to a full day for me because I generally play in 1 hour sessions, stopping to either eat, watch TV, or do some work. Charging the Vita takes about 2 hours – which isn’t bad.ConclusionRefurbished PS Vitas are a great option for anyone seeking to save some cash and get into the PS Vita library of games. Whether you get the OLED Vita like me, or you get the LCD; either one will give you lots of options to enjoy a wide variety of quality games – most at a significant discount from their original prices.