So whats the deal with the firmware, if it isnt 1.5 i cant doing anything on to play emulation or the like?
You can run emulators and homebrew stuff on any firmware up to 2.80 using the
eLoader. The main reason most people want firmware 1.5 is so that they can run PSP game backups.
You can downgrade PSPs with firmware 2.71 or below to a lower firmware and there is a Custom 2.71 firmware available that gives you all the features of the Official 2.71 firmware and also all the homebrew features of 1.5.
If you arent bothered on the colour, I have a black base pack for sale with firmware 2.71. I have used the PSP for about 3 hours max and the other stuff in the box hasnt been used.