What's the battery life like?

The battery is rated for 5.5 hours. False. Practically -- expect 3:45 when you get it out of the box. 2:40 if watching DVD's. 3:00 after several months of use. I had a contact in LG that arranged to get me a second battery, both of which now give me just over three hours.

On my last school term, I lived off a single battery -- taking 50-minute long notes in all of my math courses each day -- and carrying the relatively lightweight power cord in my backpack to recharge if I wanted to do 'extra' work.

This term, the second battery has proven invaluable for making it through all the 5 hour consecutive stretches of classes.

I'm a bit worried that the 12" screen is going to be really small.

12'' is small. Small for programming. Small for using Excel. Small for everything you'd want to do if you were sitting at a desk. It's *huge* for note-taking, watching videos, and using as a conference center-piece. It really depends on your point-of-view -- if you expect to be sitting a desk all day, you may be better off with the Toshiba M200 + Mounted Docking Station (brings your monitor closer to you, still giving you access to the tablet features [the LT20 doesn't offer that]). But if you're going mobile, you'll find the 12'' perfect.

Is there a feature where you can power it off and power it back on instantly without having to go through the whole hibernation process? Does this have much of an effect on the battery?

I don't drive a lot -- but I regularly pack up the notebook (in my backpack [takes a lot of beating, survives well]), hibernating between classes. There is a standby features, but unlike Apple Notebooks, it consumes a relatively large amount of power for the time it is in standby. Provided you aren't running 10+ applications, entering and exiting hibernation is < 10sec. Perfect for me. Perfect for popping out of my backpack, hitting the power, grabbing my pen, and taking notes or demonstrating the tablet's features (happens a lot ;))

The system claims to be 1.75kg. Do you find using it in tablet mode that your arm gets sore holding it after a while? Do you find this is comfortable using it this way?

I can't really say how hard it is to use when cradling the tablet -- I usually use the notebook on a desk or flat surface.. but those times I have had to use it, it is incredibly light. Easy to balance on one hand without much stress.

When writing with the stylus pen, is there any delay from when you touch the screen to when it starts to draw on the screen?

I've let my friends use the tablet, and they claim to see a slight delay between writing and ink. If there really is one, it has disappeared shortly after day one of using the tablet -- it is not a problem whatsoever for writing or drawing, for me.

How long does it take to charge the battery?

I was pretty impressed with the speed of recharing -- from 0%, on a 'good' day (hard to define, lol) -- I can recharge in < 2.5 hours. While running, maybe 3.5. Never really timed it. All I know that I leave it plugged in when I can, and find it > 90% when I'm done using it (and I move around a lot!)