Written by Brakken
June 2007
Introduction
Welcome to my review of Camy Pro Gear’s line of Ultimate Faceplates for the Sony PSP. These professionally packaged replacements for
your bland or damaged original faceplate have been made with a dual injection process. This process allows for supreme quality. Even
better, is the silver or gold tribal designs found on painstakingly painted on the top of each faceplate. Once you have one of these
installed you will be left with a rather unique and high quality Sony PSP.
Contents
Ultimate Faceplate
Replacement Buttons
Micro Phillips Head Screwdriver
Replacement Screws
Detailed Instructional Guide
Other then a lack of an UPC symbol the packaging of Camy Pro Gear’s line of PSP faceplates is identical to a high quality product
you might pick up at your local EB Games. It’s so identical it’s actually a pain to take apart as are most plastic encased items
you’d purchase now a days. The insides aren’t cheap either as you’ll be presented with a professionally printed cutout which
outlines the products features and the advantages of purchasing a faceplate that has been created with the dual injection
process.
Overall I was impressed with the packaging and the extra components such as the replacement buttons, screwdriver and replacement
screws. The buttons are the same quality as your original ones, but are sadly lacking their assigned positions (X, O, etc)
printed inside of them. Also, the buttons have been cut a bit awkwardly out of their molds leaving some rough edges, but after
they are installed you can’t notice this slight defect. The micro Phillips head screwdriver is also a great addition as you won’t
need to use your own and its magnetic head helps with the installation process. The replacement screws are also helpful especially
if you’ve already taken your Sony PSP apart a few times as the original screws do tend to get stripped easily.
Installation
The Sony PSP I am fitting this faceplate onto faceplate was in pretty bad condition. Not only is its original faceplate scratched
beyond repair, the buttons are a bit sticky and there is dust and hairs between the LCD screen and faceplate. This particular PSP
is a great contender for having its original faceplate exchanged with Camy’s new product.
First I removed the five screws holding the original faceplate in position via use of the included diagram. One misprint I found
was the diagram points to five screw locations, but states there are “six” to be removed. In total I only had to remove five
screws, one of which is located in the battery compartment underneath a “you take this off it voids your warranty” sticker.
Due to past experiences with disassembling the Sony PSP I paid very close attention to which screw goes where. If you accidently
try to screw a longer screw into a short screw hole you could possibly permanently damage the LCD screen – so be careful!
Once the faceplate was removed I had to exchange the rubber padding and analog stick assembly over to Camy’s new faceplate. The
rubber padding can be done without the use of a screwdriver, but the assembly has two small screws. Once the padding was removed I
placed the new buttons into the faceplate and fit the padding in place. To take the analog stick assembly off I first removed the
analog button from the front of the original faceplate with my fingers then unscrewed the assembly. There was a small ring of
black plastic that goes underneath the assembly so I had to make sure to switch that over too.
Another nice aspect of the new case was the fact it comes with a “home, +, -, etc” bar already attached to it so you wont have to
remove the original one. The original one is glued into position and after time can become loose if you switch it around too much.
The only real negative point I could find with the new faceplate itself was the fact the clear plastic used to protect the screen
didn’t come with any protective covering – so I had to be careful with it until I actually switched it out with the original.
Once I had the button padding and the analog stick assembly transferred over to the new faceplate I look a moment to clean the
original screen. I used some generic glasses cleaner and a soft cloth to remove the hairs and dust that had accumulated over
the years. Once this was done I put the new faceplate in place and screwed the five screws back in their respective positions.
Conclusion
To say the least I was very impressed with the ease of installation and the rather unique Sony PSP I was left with after
installing Camy Pro Gear’s Ultimate PSP Faceplate onto it. Gone were the previous scratches, dents, hair and dust. Unlike
some other faceplates the Sony PSP was left functioning perfectly, each button responded like the original and now I have
a really cool looking portable video game console that is sure to turn some heads around town.
Links
Camy Pro Gear Website
Online Reseller/Wholesale Links
-=[ Camy Pro Gear Faceplate Review Discussion Thread ]=-
Dual Injection Process makes for a very Solid Replacement
Poorly cut out Replacement Buttons