I got it very late in its lifespan, just a few years ago, and I feel that a lot. I remember the proprietary memory cards being the major issue I had that prevented me from buying one originally, and they’re even more of an issue now that they’re out of production and the ones available are aging.
Thankfully, the homebrew scene provided workarounds to use microSD, but you lose the ability to play cartridges easily, so I haven’t done so myself.
It’s really a great console though. Basically a pocket PS2.5 I’d say. Sometimes closer to a pocket PS3. Plus the ability to play cross platform PS3 games, certain PS2 remasters, and Sonys (then) whole offering of PS1 ports really opens up the library on top of the smattering of quality Native Vita titles it had.