You finally broke down and bought your teenager a PlayStation Portable (also known as PSP) for his birthday. There was a lot of coaxing and pleading from your teenager about all of the benefits of the PSP since it was much more than just a hand-held game system. You could also watch movies on it, but what exactly is a PSP movie?

A PSP movie is just a regular old movie that has been formatted in a certain way. Sony, the manufacturer of the PSP system has been encouraging people to purchase special versions of movies that have been formatted in the Universal Media Disc (also known as UMD). The disks are about 3 inches by 3 inches in diameter and cost about the same or just slightly more than their DVD counterparts.

You can have the excitement of seeing a movie any time and any where with the PSP system. It is now small enough to take anywhere and a vivid widescreen LCD making it perfect for movies and videos while you are on the go. And, you can watch full-length movies on a prerecorded UMD that has designed especially for the PSP. The UMD is a high-capacity storage system that is capable of delivering great graphics in a very small sized disk. There are currently more than 430 UMD movies that can be purchased.

Sounds good, right? Probably yes, if you are looking for something to amuse your children on a long car trip or while they are waiting for medical appointments. The PSP movie can keep them occupied and quiet when you need them to be.

If you are looking for a PSP movie for the family to watch, the answer is probably no. While a PSP movie is great to watch on the PSP player, you must remember that the screen is only a few inches wide. How many people really want to watch a movie on such a small screen? Actually, a lot of them do, especially since the system is so portable!

The UMD version of PSP movies can not be played on a standard DVD player in the home, but if you have the 'know-how' you can connect your PSP to your DVD. The bad part is that if the PSP breaks or some day is no longer made, you are stuck with tiny UMD movies that can not be played on a regular DVD system.

The PSP movie still has a long way to go to become a household name. However, if your goal is for a gift for your children, they will probably be absolutely thrilled with the PSP system and the ability to watch PSP movies any time and any where they go. So, if you want to make your children happy and for them to have the same up-to-date system that all of their friends have, consider giving them the PSP system and movies for their enjoyment.

They will be happy, and everyone knows that an unhappy child can make everyone miserable. So, what are a few extra dollars going to mean when it comes to keeping your child happy with PSP movies.