Got my hands on one these bad boys back in Feb 2026 for around $210 on ebay. Its the original model with the screen that is truly very nice to look at that pixel density. If you jailbreak it, which is very easy to do, its worth every penny. The whole library of Vita games at your disposal plus adrenaline software meaning you can run PSP and PS1 games natively on it. Not to metion all the homebrew and emulation to sink your teeth into. One of a kind handheld that stood the test of time. Only a matter of time before Sony retries this approach with their new console given the market for handhelds in my opinion.
I don't really pick it up like I use to back when I first got it. All the luster of jailbreaking it, setting it up, and downloading all your favorite games on it wears out fast. Where this console truly shines is in the power to mobility department. If you need a form factor to take a on a trip that you can just whip out of your pocket after it has been on sleep mode for week there is actually no better option.
At the end of the day I hold the sentiment of "its a lot cooler to own it than to use it" and it think it boils down to the age of the device and lack of support. Sure the homebrew and modding support for this device is truly absurd, but after you discover it all, you have nothing to look forward to.
I still adore this device and use it periodically, on trips or holidays especially. It's just not lost on me that it has its quirks in usability.
Favorite games:
Super meat boy
Minecraft vita enhanced edition
Midnight club la remix
Terraria
Uncharted GA
Killzone mercenary
Nfs most wanted
GTA san andreas
Tony hawks underground