OK! so i know theres like 14 thousand different shin megami tensei games and 4 personas and i've heard good things from the community here as well as other places but i dont know where to start o.o

i have a 60gb ps3 so i can play any games from ps1-ps3

i also have a psp if the new psp ones are a good place 

just anywhere i can start to get into the series a persona game? a devil summoner i just dont know

(btw im a stickler for story so if it is a sequel that relates to the older ones i'll probly want to play them first but thats not nessisarilly true in all cases if the story explains enough and your dont really need the sequal etc....)

Start with Persona 3 IMO. I found a copy for $3.99 at Gamestop near me last time I went there. Or, get Persona 4 then get Persona 3 for PSP later.  

is persona 3 fes the full game with bonus content or is it STRICTLY an expansion? i geuss if i enjoy that i'll move on the persona 4 then perhaps i'll try persona on the psp

after that what about devil summoner or digital devil saga? (assuming i enjoy those other 3 games)

thanks for the input thus far

Persona 3 & Persona 4 aren't story related to each other and the earlier ones, so you can play whichever one you want first. I recommend you wait for Persona 3 Portable - it's coming out this summer.

Devil Summoner 1 & 2 also aren't story related. Though I recommend you don't play Devil Summoner 1 - it kind of sucks.

SMT: Nocturne is part of the main series (the others like DS, Persona, etc, are spin-offs). This is my favorite SMT game. I would like to recommend this game as the place to start with SMT since it does a fine job introducing the demons and what SMT is all about, but be warned, it's a pretty difficult game.

Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 are the only ones that are story related.

nocturne seams like the place to start as its introducing stuff and seams to be a fan favorite (and i dont mind a challange i do own demon's souls after all :D) then go on to persona games.

now you didnt express an oppinion on digital devil saga? or are the spin offs not worth it and i should stick with nocturne and persona?

Definetly go for Digital Devil Sagas too, they got the best battle system in the series imo and a pretty good story too.

Start with Persona 3. Then Persona 4 those will get you hooked into the SMT universe then. You just go from there

The Digital Devil Saga games are great; they have a very good story. If you like Nocturne, then you'll mostly like the DDS series as well. The battle system is basically the same. The only thing that sucks about DDS is the high encounter rate.

The only one I recommend you skip is the first Devil Summoner game. Devil Summoner 2 was surprisingly good though.

But yeah, I suggest you play Persona 3 Portable (or FES) and Nocturne first. That way you can decide where to go next. If you liked Persona 3 more than Nocturne, then Persona 4 would be your next game to play. If you liked Nocturne more, then the DDS games are next. Devil Summoner 2 is different from the rest - it's an action-RPG.

I heavily disliked persona 4

I hope you can get into the franchise.

Hmm, you didn't even play nearly the best of the series.