I purchased the Nex IIe Feb 2003. The are a few things I like, and many others I do not. For me, 2 GB capacity is not enough - so I purchased a 30GB iPod and my Nex IIe is rarely used. The Nex ia is a different model, but may have many of the same limitations and strengths:
Strengths: price, size, ability to use Compact Flash (Types 1 and 2), uses 2 AA batteries, approximately 14 hours playback time, and MP3 and WMA playback.
Weaknesses: battery cover is poorly designed, batteries are very hard to remove, infamous "g"s appearing in display - despite valid tags, 2 GB limit (only supports FAT16 formatted cards, not FAT 32), slight audible hiss which may be a defect in my player (or may be an inherent problem, but is only noticable in quiet portions of music).
As soon as I loaded my iPod with tracks, the Nex IIe was shelved.