Hardware Building a PS Vita by myself from scratch - good or bad idea?

[NoNAND]

I know some of your here might say: but why not buy a ps vita off eBay or a ps TV instead. They're cheap

But guys I would like to build one myself for different reasons
For one, I found some ps vita parts for cheap on AliExpress. A psv1000 motherboard for merely a 30 bucks. Second I would like to hone my technical skills and be able to learn more on how to repair electronics and such.

But before I purchase anything I would like to know beforehand
What should I go for
The ps vita 1000 or 2000 model? What about the 3G one?
When you buy the motherboard do you need to solder anything into it (IE ram chips) or it's just plug the ribbon cables and screw the screws.
Besides the oled screen on the ps vita 1000 what are some other advantages or disadvantages and which one is better the 2000 slim or the fatty 1000 version.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Regarding which is better, entirely dependent on the person. The Slim's main benefits is it has 1GB of it's internal NAND partitioned off for memory card storage, it uses a standard Micro USB port for charging, and it has a slightly longer battery life (like an hour maybe?). The OLED's benefits are mainly that, it has an OLED screen, and if you get the 3G version you can replace the 3G module with a PSVSD, which lets you use a micro SD card as a memory card without taking up the cartridge slot (like the SD2Vita). Other than that, they're identical. If you care about quality screens, get the OLED. If you don't care either way, get the Slim.

Regarding soldering anything, no, it's just ribbon cables. You're not buying a blank piece of substrate that you have to solder anything to, that'd be stupid, you're just buying a complete motherboard pulled from a previously working Vita. All you'd need to do is get all the required ribbon cables and button pads and such and piece it all together.

TBH though, for the price, you might as well get a Raspberry Pi DIY kit or something as opposed to doing this. Would be much cheaper, and would be a better way to "hone" your technical skills vs putting together an already pre-assembled handheld.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Why not backlight a game boy advance then sell it? Or backlight a game boy color. That’s pretty fun. I backlit a GBC, but didn’t like it as I couldn’t adjust the brightness. So I was stuck with one level. I sold it. You’d solder 3 points. 3 to the mother board and 3 points to the ribbon cable adapter. I guess that 6 points all together. You can also get fancy and do other mods, like upgrade the speaker or install a lithium rechargeable battery with a micro usb charge port.

To get back on topic. The vita 1000 would be my choice. The screen is so nice. It’s also really nice that the vita is modular. I just opened mine to do a deep cleaning. Washed all the buttons. I bought it used a few years ago. It’s so nice now. I don’t have the 3g version, so it was even easier to take apart.

 

[NoNAND]

Regarding which is better, entirely dependent on the person. The Slim's main benefits is it has 1GB of it's internal NAND partitioned off for memory card storage, it uses a standard Micro USB port for charging, and it has a slightly longer battery life (like an hour maybe?). The OLED's benefits are mainly that, it has an OLED screen, and if you get the 3G version you can replace the 3G module with a PSVSD, which lets you use a micro SD card as a memory card without taking up the cartridge slot (like the SD2Vita). Other than that, they're identical. If you care about quality screens, get the OLED. If you don't care either way, get the Slim.

Regarding soldering anything, no, it's just ribbon cables. You're not buying a blank piece of substrate that you have to solder anything to, that'd be stupid, you're just buying a complete motherboard pulled from a previously working Vita. All you'd need to do is get all the required ribbon cables and button pads and such and piece it all together.

TBH though, for the price, you might as well get a Raspberry Pi DIY kit or something as opposed to doing this. Would be much cheaper, and would be a better way to "hone" your technical skills vs putting together an already pre-assembled handheld.

Thanks!
I was kinda worried that I had to solder everything but that doesn't seem to be the case luckily
Do you know where can I order full sets of parts. I've almost found everything save for the metal bracket things that attach to the motherboard.
I'm going for the 3G model because I heavily depend on mobile data to get me online.
Also the psvita 1000 motherboard seems cheaper. For just like 30 bucks or so

Raspberry Pi?
Not sure about that. I never was interested in them

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Thanks!
I was kinda worried that I had to solder everything but that doesn't seem to be the case luckily
Do you know where can I order full sets of parts. I've almost found everything save for the metal bracket things that attach to the motherboard.
I'm going for the 3G model because I heavily depend on mobile data to get me online.
Also the psvita 1000 motherboard seems cheaper. For just like 30 bucks or so

Raspberry Pi?
Not sure about that. I never was interested in them

To be honest, I kind of doubt anyone sells replacement parts for the entire thing, there are tons of parts in the Vita that would never need replacing so nobody is going to manufacture them. You might be better off buying a broken Vita from eBay and then replacing the parts that way.

 

[NoNAND]

Why not backlight a game boy advance then sell it? Or backlight a game boy color. That’s pretty fun. I backlit a GBC, but didn’t like it as I couldn’t adjust the brightness. So I was stuck with one level. I sold it. You’d solder 3 points. 3 to the mother board and 3 points to the ribbon cable adapter. I guess that 6 points all together. You can also get fancy and do other mods, like upgrade the speaker or install a lithium rechargeable battery with a micro usb charge port.

To get back on topic. The vita 1000 would be my choice. The screen is so nice. It’s also really nice that the vita is modular. I just opened mine to do a deep cleaning. Washed all the buttons. I bought it used a few years ago. It’s so nice now. I don’t have the 3g version, so it was even easier to take apart.

I've planned to do a GBA backlight mod myself.
Thankfully there's pre cut shells si it's hell of a lot easier to put everything together. Yeah it requires soldering nonetheless but it's leagues easier compared to soldering modchips lol.
The OLED screen on the 1000 model indeed adds a lot of value to it. If only the battery was bigger
What's the reason it runs out so fast? If I recall they were about the same capacity right?
How about using a higher capacity Chinese battery?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I've planned to do a GBA backlight mod myself.
Thankfully there's pre cut shells si it's hell of a lot easier to put everything together. Yeah it requires soldering nonetheless but it's leagues easier compared to soldering modchips lol.
The OLED screen on the 1000 model indeed adds a lot of value to it. If only the battery was bigger
What's the reason it runs out so fast? If I recall they were about the same capacity right?
How about using a higher capacity Chinese battery?

Battery mods on the Vita do not work unless you want to get extremely janky and ruin a Vita. I know there are videos and occasional posts on Reddit (and I think one here?), but these are all BS tutorials and just plain don't work. I know of maybe one person that got a mod to work, and the way it was wired up was incredibly dangerous and has the potential to ruin your Vita at best, and possibly harm the user at worst. Don't even bother. This is because of the way the controller on the Vita's battery works, it's rather "unique" and is designed to only work with the specific battery used by the Vita.

 

[slaphappygamer]

I've planned to do a GBA backlight mod myself.
Thankfully there's pre cut shells si it's hell of a lot easier to put everything together. Yeah it requires soldering nonetheless but it's leagues easier compared to soldering modchips lol.
The OLED screen on the 1000 model indeed adds a lot of value to it. If only the battery was bigger
What's the reason it runs out so fast? If I recall they were about the same capacity right?
How about using a higher capacity Chinese battery?

Since installing a new higher capacity battery will require keeping the controller board from the original battery, it seems most install a second battery that piggybacks off the original one. There is a controller board that regulates voltage from/to the battery. The board needs to be in the circuit. Sure the vita doesn’t last five hours, but really, I need a break before then and would probably have to eat. With all the portable batteries that we have now, it’s not hard to find a charging option and still stay mobile.

 

[NoNAND]

Alright thanks for clarifying guys
I'll look for a standard pa vita battery
But anyway where can I order a GPS chip for the vita? That thing that connects to the bulky white socket on the motherboard is the GPS module right?
And what about the metal brackets that hold the motherboard secured where can I order them.

 

[DinohScene]

Vita doesn't have GPS, Vita does have a 3G module on a mini PCI slot.
Yifan has made designs for a SD adapter to be placed in the mini PCI slot and they are for sale?

I'd say get a PSVSD (the SD to mini PCI adapter) and dump a large SD in there, you can format it and utilise it as storage for the console.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Vita doesn't have GPS, Vita does have a 3G module on a mini PCI slot.

That's actually incorrect, the 3G Vita has a GPS chip built into the 3G adapter.

 

[DinohScene]

That's actually incorrect, the 3G Vita has a GPS chip built into the 3G adapter.

TIL, I honestly thought it was limited to just 3G.
Disregard what I said about it : D

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

TIL, I honestly thought it was limited to just 3G.
Disregard what I said about it : D

That's ok, they discontinued their Maps support so it's pretty much useless anyways

But it was neat, for the time I suppose. http://www.edepot.com/playstation.html#PSP2_A-GPS < more info there.

 

[Jeffreyj1000]

I know some of your here might say: but why not buy a ps vita off eBay or a ps TV instead. They're cheap

But guys I would like to build one myself for different reasons
For one, I found some ps vita parts for cheap on AliExpress. A psv1000 motherboard for merely a 30 bucks. Second I would like to hone my technical skills and be able to learn more on how to repair electronics and such.

But before I purchase anything I would like to know beforehand
What should I go for
The ps vita 1000 or 2000 model? What about the 3G one?
When you buy the motherboard do you need to solder anything into it (IE ram chips) or it's just plug the ribbon cables and screw the screws.
Besides the oled screen on the ps vita 1000 what are some other advantages or disadvantages and which one is better the 2000 slim or the fatty 1000 version.

I plan on doing the same thing, where you able to do it?? How did it go??

Post automatically merged: Jan 15, 2024

I know some of your here might say: but why not buy a ps vita off eBay or a ps TV instead. They're cheap

But guys I would like to build one myself for different reasons
For one, I found some ps vita parts for cheap on AliExpress. A psv1000 motherboard for merely a 30 bucks. Second I would like to hone my technical skills and be able to learn more on how to repair electronics and such.

But before I purchase anything I would like to know beforehand
What should I go for
The ps vita 1000 or 2000 model? What about the 3G one?
When you buy the motherboard do you need to solder anything into it (IE ram chips) or it's just plug the ribbon cables and screw the screws.
Besides the oled screen on the ps vita 1000 what are some other advantages or disadvantages and which one is better the 2000 slim or the fatty 1000 version.

I plan on doing the same thing, where you able to do it?? How did it go??