you had the same problem i did. my remote died as well.

i also went looking for one of the psp-1000 model types, but came up empty. all they had was stuff for PSP-2000

why am i glad i have a friend who works of a sony store check the back for some?

Don't think a Sony store would do that for a random person...
So screwy that it costs so much - I mean, do they really expect people to pay that much for it, when you can get an entire MP3 player cheaper?