So I got my new and very first PS Vita earlier this week and wanted to post my impressions / how much I love this thing. Bought off Cowboom for $130 + 10 bucks shipping, graded as a "rank 6" - the unit was 100% indistinguishable from new, basically, aside from the absence of a box or stickers on the screen. There is also a slight weird burn-in / ghosting ONLY when the screen is displaying pure black and I am playing completely in the dark. Essentially it's a quirk but a non-issue.
Anyway, I love this thing, it's aweosme. I signed up for PS+, but as of right now have not touched the free games and have just been playing Persona 4 Golden, non-stop. I am up at my GF's parents house and have had a ton of time to get cozy and just play the hell out of this and really this game is terrific, made better by the system. I won't harp on P4G as that's been done plenty, but if you've ever enjoyed a good mystery, an RPG, or hell, even anything Japanese, you'll love this game.
Other thoughts:
-Battery life is perfectly satisfactory - heard a lot of complaints about this but really it's like 5 and half hours and by the time it runs low it's probably a good time to take a break anyway.
-PS store sucks on this thing... slow ass performance, total absence of certain titles that are playable on Vita, no thumbnails / trailers / any info for a good many games. Basically it's no good and you'd better have a PS3 as well or you're going to have a hard time finding smaller titles to play.
-Lack of SD memory is so stupid, but we all know that by now. Be prepared to shuffle games a lot on a small card... or shuffle the money in your bank account to get a big one.
-There are a lot more games than people think. I already feel quite overwhelmed with my small backlog of P4G (current), then Uncharted, then Gravity Rush, then Dragon's Crown, then the MGS collection, plus many PSP games I never got a chance to play, etc. Not to mention a huge selection of PS1 games, and remote play coming in November. More games would be great, obviously, but there is really no shortage of anything to play if you pick one up right now.
Overall this new user is very pleased with the system. I'm glad I didn't wait for some undefined period where it would have been better to buy. I'm excited for whatever will come, especially in light of the fact that some of PSPs most iconic games came about 5 years after the system's launch.... Remote play is another big draw as my console is hooked to my desktop monitor, so I can lay in bed playing or sit on my terrace, etc.
Thanks for reading and for inspiring me to get a Vita!
