I think Sony got nailed by license issues and third party devs more interested in psn classics or remake sales than the psclassic.
Here is hoping it’s hackable though. If so, I’d love to rip my collection and use that to play.
Why not just buy a Raspberry Pi with bluetooth and buy or use a DS4 instead?
Even buying the DS4 brand new to go with it, you can get it done for about the same amount of money. A decent Pi that will be more than enough to run a PS emulator will run about $40 US, and a cheaper one will do the job if you cut back on the bells and whistles a little. If you've already got the DS4, that's even more reason to go that route because it's less than half the cost of the PS Classic.
I mean, if you're ripping the games anyway you can just use an emulator and get a better experience than the PS Classic will provide. Any decent emulator will have upgraded graphics settings, post processing, uprezing, better sound, and a superior wireless controller.
I get not using an emulator if you don't have the games already, don't want to download them, or don't want to rip them, but if that's your plan anyway, there's really no reason to bother with the PS Classic. Especially since you won't have to bother with "hacking" a Pi.
It's also worth pointing out that emulators themselves aren't illegal. It's when you're downloading games that the legal issues become a thing.
Newer console emulators sometimes have stability issues, but the PS emulators have been around long enough that the kinks have been worked out and they should work flawlessly with any game for the system.
I have a Pi set up this way already and have long since ripped my PS collection and transferred it over.
The setup is a little more complicated, but it's not that hard, and you only ever have to do it once. If you have the games and the skills to rip them, you can handle setting up a Pi and installing an emulator on it.
Seems like a waste of money considering your particular circumstances.