No doubt, putting ourselves at that point in time when the N64 was released, it was not worth purchasing as your main system. But looking at it today, it is actually a good system to have in your collection.
For example, say you want to play a quick game of Road Rash or Robotron while the wife/GF dries her hair before going out to dinner...well, you could wait a minute for the PS2 (its what I use for PS1 games) splash screen, the 20 in game splash screens and logos, then wait for the level/course to load up. Or, just pop in a cartridge and almost instantly you are there, in quite frankly better versions of those games than their PSX counterparts (Road Rash is debatable). In some cases, even if the PSX version is better, I opt for instant gratification if I feel the urge to play 3D games from that era (for whatever insane reason).
I think a lot of us judge the N64 as if we were still back in the 90s, instead of looking at it for what it is. Not an essential system, but for the price, a good one for some fun games from that era.
Also, Waverace 64 is worth the price of admission (of say, $25 for the system and $5 for the game). That game is brilliant, blurry graphics and all.