thinking of buying a vita, what should i know?

[placebo_yue]

So, as title says, i'm thinking of getting a vita, second hand of course, and i don't wanna buy an underpowered older model, or an un-hackable one. I'd also like to know what consoles can be reliably emulated (i assume everything retro +PS1+PSP at least)
What should i keep in mind? Also, how do i install a custom firmware? the stickies seem to be about other stuff, there's no "noobs come here" thread.

thanks in advance

 

[metroid maniac]

All Vitas are hackable and have the same performance, so no issues there. To hack a 1000 Vita you will need an additional memory card, but 2000 Vitas include a 1GB internal memory card already. Both Vitas can accept an SD2Vita but only when hacked.
The fat 1000 Vitas have a nicer OLED screen. The slim 2000 Vitas have USB micro charging port instead of a proprietary port.
It's a matter of personal opinion whether you should get a fat or slim.
Follow this guide.
https://vita.hacks.guide/

 

[placebo_yue]

All Vitas are hackable and have the same performance, so no issues there. To hack a 1000 Vita you will need an additional memory card, but 2000 Vitas include a 1GB internal memory card already. Both Vitas can accept an SD2Vita but only when hacked.
The fat 1000 Vitas have a nicer OLED screen. The slim 2000 Vitas have USB micro charging port instead of a proprietary port.
It's a matter of personal opinion whether you should get a fat or slim.
Follow this guide.
https://vita.hacks.guide/

oh so it's not 100% mandatory to have a firmware under 3.60? cool.
Do any models accept normal SD cards? or can one be used somehow with an adapter or whatever?

 

[metroid maniac]

oh so it's not 100% mandatory to have a firmware under 3.60? cool.

The current firmware with permanent CFW is 3.65. That guide will show you how to downgrade if the firmware is newer. All newer firmwares can be downgraded, so all Vitas can be hacked.

Do any models accept normal SD cards? or can one be used somehow with an adapter or whatever?

All Vita models use expensive proprietary cards. You can use an sd2vita adapter to use an SD card, but only once the console is hacked.

 

[placebo_yue]

You can use an sd2vita adapter to use an SD card

awesome, just looked those up and they're fairly cheap. Also i wasn't aware firmware could be downgraded. Excellent all around. I'm gonna go get one soon, possibly this weekend. Expect to see more of me around here asking stuff until i have it full of games and homebrew lol.
About emulators do you have any idea? With retro+PS1 i'd be happy already, anything else is a bonus, like N64, PSP, dreamcast, gamecube, ps2... i'm nto getting my hopes up with the last three, i know it's a long shot

 

[duwen]

The only thing I'll add is that when using sd2vita you lose the ability to run legit game cards, so if that's important to you it's worth bearing in mind.

There are alternatives to sd2vita, depending on what hardware you're using; PSTV can use storage plugged in via usb, and the 3G variants of the 1000 can have an internal module that replaces the 3G board.

In terms of emulators on the system... thanks to Adrenaline the Vita can run PSP and PS1 games close to natively. And most other consoles up to Dreamcast can be emulated well... Dreamcast is a bit hit and miss at present, but getting better.

 

[metroid maniac]

awesome, just looked those up and they're fairly cheap. Also i wasn't aware firmware could be downgraded. Excellent all around. I'm gonna go get one soon, possibly this weekend. Expect to see more of me around here asking stuff until i have it full of games and homebrew lol.
About emulators do you have any idea? With retro+PS1 i'd be happy already, anything else is a bonus, like N64, PSP, dreamcast, gamecube, ps2... i'm nto getting my hopes up with the last three, i know it's a long shot

Vita has backward compatibility with PSP and PS1 via PSP mode. GBA & SNES is about the limit of Vita emulation, don't expect much more than that.

 

[placebo_yue]

I probably won't be playing legit game cards anytime soon, but it's an important warning, thanks.

As for the answers on emulation, i assume metroid is a bit more about full accuracy than duwen? some people say 3DS can barely run SNES or GBA, but there's emulators that run SNES perfectly well, and GBA can be run using some native hardware thingy -no emulation- so full speed, but no save states and such. I assume that's the case here with some consoles and emulators. As far as they run in playable speeds it's good for me, although i wouldn't be surprised if N64 and/or dreamcast lag a little or have limited compatibility

 

[duwen]

You can look up (and download) most homebrew, including emulators, from VitaDB. As you can see, there's a pretty good selection of emulators available

 

[Shin Akuma]

Im expecting a brand new one slim next week(was very lucky and in good price) and as far as i know its from 2016.
I checked the firmware releases and found that the 3.65 was on november of 2016 so maybe im even luckier ?
What i wanted to know is if you hack it you get banned to play online?
Also on the guide it mentions enso or henkaku etc. The CFW is a bit messy i think
I have hacked 2 N3dsxls since 2016-2017 with luma back then? so i understand the risks but i would really like to know which firmware to use?
Im looking for a permanent one i suppose and not to have to do something on boot to run the exploit just like the 3ds is.
Any help would be appreciated

 

[duwen]

What i wanted to know is if you hack it you get banned to play online?

A ban is unlikely, but it's always advisable to avoid any sort of cheating. I've been playing both my Vita's using my main PS account for years now.

Also on the guide it mentions enso or henkaku etc. The CFW is a bit messy i think

Henkaku is the general name for the exploit that works on all firmwares, Henkaku Enso is the permanent/coldboot variant that can only run on 3.65 and lower. I'd always recommend downgrading to an Enso compatible firmware and then just spoofing to the latest firmware for online access.

 

[Shin Akuma]

A ban is unlikely, but it's always advisable to avoid any sort of cheating. I've been playing both my Vita's using my main PS account for years now.


Henkaku is the general name for the exploit that works on all firmwares, Henkaku Enso is the permanent/coldboot variant that can only run on 3.65 and lower.

Thanks Duwen
No no cheating brother just having fun is cool
So if my console arrives with 3.65 or lower should i stay there if i want permanent? but if i want to go online i should get to 3.74 correct?
either way im going for emulation mostly but just in case i think ill go for Henkaku Enso
Last question tho , can you revert everything back to normal just in case?

 

[duwen]

It doesn't matter what firmware it's on as it can be downgraded - following the guide, you may even have to update to current firmware to downgrade at a later step in the procedure (only a few of the more recent models will have a minimum fw requirement that prohibits downgrading to a permanent Enso exploit). And being able to spoof to the current fw means you can get online on any firmware. So, Henkaku Enso on 3.60 (or 3.65), with fw spoofed to 3.74 is regarded as the best set up.
As far as reverting back to stock; I've never had to, but I believe it's fairly simple.

 

[elpapadelospollitos]

For emulation:

NES - Works perfectly, you can even avoid the real console lag on games like Kirby's adventure
SNES - Works perfectly most of the time, you have to try differente cores for some games but it mostly works, of course there are games that simply won't like Star fox, kirby's dream land 3, etc.
N64 - Some games works perfectly, some are playable but not perfect though most won't
GB & GBC - Works perfectly
Wonderswan - Works perfectly
Neo geo pocket & color - Works perfectly
Neo geo, CPSI, CPSII - Works perfectly
Other arcade before the 90's - Works perfectly
Other arcade from the 90's - May work or not
GBA - Works perfectly most of the time, same as SNES, try different cores and some 3D games won't work like Super monkey ball JR
Dreamcast - Same as N64
PS1 - Works perfectly as the emulator is native, there are some games that need workarounds patches but they are few
PSP - Works perfectly as the hardware is there natively, just don't expect to run PPSSPP modded games

 

[Shin Akuma]

For emulation:

NES - Works perfectly, you can even avoid the real console lag on games like Kirby's adventure
SNES - Works perfectly most of the time, you have to try differente cores for some games but it mostly works, of course there are games that simply won't like Star fox, kirby's dream land 3, etc.
N64 - Some games works perfectly, some are playable but not perfect though most won't
GB & GBC - Works perfectly
Wonderswan - Works perfectly
Neo geo pocket & color - Works perfectly
Neo geo, CPSI, CPSII - Works perfectly
Other arcade before the 90's - Works perfectly
Other arcade from the 90's - May work or not
GBA - Works perfectly most of the time, same as SNES, try different cores and some 3D games won't work like Super monkey ball JR
Dreamcast - Same as N64
PS1 - Works perfectly as the emulator is native, there are some games that need workarounds patches but they are few
PSP - Works perfectly as the hardware is there natively, just don't expect to run PPSSPP modded games

Hey are these with retroarch? Most likely i will use standalone apps like mGBA
thanks

 

[elpapadelospollitos]

Hey are these with retroarch? Most likely i will use standalone apps like mGBA
thanks

Yes, only standalones I use are for n64, dreamcast and cpsIII

 

[duwen]

Must admit, I've not gotten into emus much on Vita. The only one I have installed (on my PSTV) is pFBN, which I found to be an easier, more user-friendly, experience than Retroarch, and seems to run the majority of ROMs I'm interested in as well, if not better, than Retroarch.
I do have a ton of PSP and PS1 installed, but I don't consider that as emulation.

 

[placebo_yue]

In general, standalone emulators tend to work better than retroarch because they're optimized for whatever they're running on, huh?
But retroarch has a lot of cores and settings, there's usually a combination of those that works decently on whatever you're running it. I always try retroarch as my last resort or when the standalone ones fail me somehow tho.

 

[placebo_yue]

OKay i have my vita with 3.60 + enzo, adrenaline and PGJK or whatever that fake eshop is called, everything is going nicely.
Just wondering, how do i install games without using that app? VPK files are like the CIAs of 3DS? i install with vitashell?
And how about installing eboots for adrenaline? is there a tool to help with all that? i used some "PSX2PSP" back in the day with my PSP, perhaps i can use that?

posting here to avoid spamming with threads

 

[Marc_LFD]

I have an OLED Vita and thought using the proprietary cable was very inconvenient, that's until I bought an official one when I noticed it connects smoothly.

Would I have preferred a Micro USB or USB-C port instead? Hell yeah! However, using the official cable gives you no issues whatsoever.

Btw, to run PSP games on Vita give ARK a try as Adrenaline isn't very reliable, imo.