20-JUL-2005

An English magazine here in Shanghai - That'sShanghai (www.thatssh.com) - had a two page spread about game consols and portable game devices. They presented a number of devices, including the hard-to-find Sony PSP, and next to each presentation they mentioned that it could be bought at stall number 246 on Wanhangdu Lu.

Street names are presented in both English and Chinese in Shanghai, in an attempt to make the city feel more international. A nice touch, but when streets seem to change name at random every now and then, it doesn't help that much. I started out a couple of blocks from the shop, but there "Wanhangdu" was called something else, so it took a while before I found it.

But eventually I got to stall 246 on Wanhangdu Lu, and as you can see in the picture, it's not quite what one could expect after all the nice referrals in a trendy magazine.

The salesperson understood absolutely no English and I ended up leaving empty handed. Anyway, acording to the article in That'sShanghai, the price was 2100 RMB (about 210 euros), and that is more than it costs in the US. Then again, I guess that is the "before haggling" price. This is not a easy place to do business for a Scandinavian used to the real, final price being printed on a sticker.

Fortunately, further up the road was another equally modest shop and the sales person actually understood a bit of english and wrote down the price for me: 1700. The package said "value pack" but contained none of the extras supposed to be included in the value pack. On the other hand, it also said "for sale and use in Japan only" with all caps on the back of the package.

Still, I think about 170 euros for the basic PSP is an OK price.

I love gadgets and this is one beautiful gadget. Now I only have to figure out what to do with it - I am not much of a gamer.