I like my vita just fine. And, in fact, hardware wise, I like it much better than my 3ds.
Now, game wise? Not so much. I do own around 4 games for it, plus I bought some psp games off the psn that work on it too. And, I like all the ones that I do own (but I have strange taste...really liking games that other people can't stand). But, if/until they get a more robust library, I can't really recommend it.
I'm of roughly the same opinion. I like the Vita hardware quite a bit, as it's easy to hold, the screen is vivid (if a bit blue) and for as little space as Sony had the thumbsticks work well. As a travel-gamer I'd normally strive for something more portable and with better battery life, but the only modern alternative would be the 3DS, which thanks to that damned 3D screen has even worse battery life than the Vita.
As for the games, I have no problem recommending it even with the limited game library, just keep in mind what you're getting into. I have 4 games on cartridge - my preferred format - and then a couple more games as digital downloads since they don't come on cartridges. Wipeout 2048 disappointed me due to the combination of "busy" looking maps and the 30fps framerate, while Rayman: Origins and LBP2:Vita are absolutely fantastic. Also, everyone has to own one of the pinball games (both Pinball Arcade and Zen Pinball are quite good), and Super Stardust Delta is a good way to kill 20 minutes.
I don't have any real comment on the utility apps though. I bought the Vita to play games, so the browser, Skype, YouTube, etc are unimportant to me.
Overall I probably overpaid for what I got due to the fact that I ended up picking up a WiFi version and an 8GB card separately at launch (the 3G version included an 8G card for roughly the same markup), but with the deals going on now I'd certainly have no problem suggesting one if the current game library interests you.