Since the creation of the PSP, fans and critics alike admit that the handheld offers users opportunities that no other handheld has ever been able to do before.  Movie buffs love its video capabilities.  For music fans, however, there’s nothing better than the PSP’s music capabilities.

The PSP is almost like an ultimate MP3 player, and like the iPod and other media players out there, the preferred form of media is, in fact, the MP3.

But what is an MP3?  A true technology fan would tell you that “MP3” is just a file extension the encodes your music into three layers for compression into an audio signal known as the MPEG Audio Layer 3.  In simple terms?  An MP3 takes your CD-quality sound and compresses it into a smaller file, while maintaining most of its original quality.

MP3 files are relatively small, and transferring them online has become easier than ever before.  Sites such as iTunes and Napster are cashing in on the population’s love of music by charging a membership or per-song download fee.  Still, others offer users free download capabilities, but at their own risk (and yours as well), as they find themselves facing legal charges after violating copyright laws.

The easiest way to download PSP music onto your console, however, is from CDs you already own.  The process of converting your CD media to MP3 format is called “ripping” and can be done quickly through most media players or through specialty CD ripping software.

But the PSP is by no means perfect.  In order to download PSP music, you have to find the lowest possible quality of the music, or convert it into a low quality for storage on the memory stick.  This can severely affect the sound of your music.  MP3 files also take up a lot more space on the memory stick.

Also, certain music download services make it difficult to compress or convert your media files due to the restrictions in place to protect their digital management rights.  This can make transferring your media over a hassle, or worse, can make transferring the media over impossible!

Even with this in mind, if you are a serious music lover, you should download PSP music, and transfer your existing MP3 files onto your PSP.  When you know how to do it,