Fan-designed PSP units offer a variety of things. They show us how creative and Photoshop-adept some Sony fans are. They make PSP owners wish for additional features. They give video game blogs something to write about.

One of the most important things the fan designed PSP units tell us is what PSP owners want. These fan designs are more than just “what if” scenarios and an attempt to make some sort of uber-handheld. It’s a means of showing what users want, and how they’d like it to be executed. The exposure given to the more ingenious and innovative designs make it just a little more likely that the people who matter at Sony might see them and listen.

If you look at a few of the fan designs for PSPs and PSP 2s, you start to realize it isn’t all about looking cool. Upon closer inspection, you can see how the designers are or aren’t satisfied with the current unit, and suggestions he or she is making to improve it…

Everyone has been speculating about the release of a new PSP. Fan Samuel Lau is one of the PSP fans hoping for the announcement, and on the official Sony PSP forums displayed his vision of what the next version should look like.

As Yanko Design points out, Lau’s vision looks like a combination of a T-Mobile Sidekick phone and an existing PSP. Lau’s improvements to the system include a screen that slides up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and a camera built in.