The Noobz team (with help from Mathieulh and Dark_Alex) have just announced and released an improved version of Dark_Alex's 2.80 downgrader with 2.80 HEN support as well! Previously HEN was only usable on firmware 2.71, but the Noobz team have worked their magic and ported it to firmware 2.80! So, a downgrader and a homebrew enabler in one announcement, what a nice present!

Apparently a lot of people have been bugging for a stable, secure and easy downgrader for 2.80 firmware. Well, the Noobz team never ceases to impress us and has released just that! Using the recent 2.80 downgrader and the generic downgrader from Dark_Alex, the team has been able to create the "best" 2.80 downgrader! The great part about this downgrader is the fact that it uses the original 1.50 eboot file in order to downgrade, which will decrease the hassle of obtaining the 1.50 dump files. For all those TA-082 and TA-086 users, this downgrader will still work on your PSP's!

The Noobz team have also bundled a new homebrew enabler for the 2.80 firmware, even though the last one was only on 2.71. 2.80 HEN will allow users that are afraid of downgrader to execute homebrew on their 2.80 firmware (TA-082/86 supported). There's always a risk in downgrading if you do not follow the instructions, so please follow these instructions if you plan on downgrading -

1. Install the HEN files, by following the details in the readme.txt file.
2. Test that HEN is working fine, by running one of the bundled sample applications - e.g. the cube demo.
3. If you have a TA-082 or TA-086 PSP, run the "TA082 IdStorage Changer", via HEN, to patch your registry before downgrading.
4. Get a copy of the v1.5 upgrade EBOOT (e.g. from here) and copy it to the /psp/game/UPDATE/ folder on your memory stick, as UPDATE.PBP.
5. Start the"PSP Update ver X.YZ" program via HEN, and follow the instructions.
6. Congratulations, you now have a v1.5 PSP! :D

Great work Noobz and Dark_Alex's team! May the PSP community continue to thrive as you all help us! Show your gratification for these great developers by saying so below in our comments; I'm sure they would appreciate it!