There were lots of reasons to not buy and Atari Lynx. I was one of the few people that purchased and Atari Jaguar and that was one of the biggest letdowns of my entire gaming life.
A friend of mine purchased the TG-16 portable for something crazy like $400. That thing was very ahead of its time but the price tag basically ensured that not many people were going to buy it.
RE: Looking back on early Zelda vs now-Zelda