It will be interesting to hear what your longer-term take is on this tent. I've got a lot of miles on my Lightheart Solo and I'm a fan, but I've never talked to anyone that has a Duo.

I like the side exit and that the space is laid out to be where I want it --- high point in the middle, extra width sort of mid-body. The sewn-in fly is overall a positive, one less thing to fiddle with, and once in a while nice to be able to roll up one or both sides to turn it into a bug shelter, where it is in turn pretty fast to re-convert to weatherproof tent should the weather change. At home it's not that much harder to get the whole thing completely dry even with the fly permanently attached; I hang it by the stake-out points upside down in my garage and that does the trick.

Really, I have nothing bad to say about this tent, it's my favorite. If you use it a lot, do be gentle with the zippers; I had to have the pulls replaced, but I've used this tent a great deal, many many nights in it. And if you do have any problem, Judy (owner) is very responsive and reasonable; she fixed my zipper problem for just the cost of shipping the tent.

Ah, one thought: you might consider a two-type-of-stakes solution. I now use a couple of 3-sided stakes, MSR Groundhog or similar, just for the two long ends. Really, those are the only load bearing stakes necessary to keep the structure standing. Lighter stakes of your choice are great IMO for staking out the fly. Sometimes I don't carry enough stakes to fully guy it out, figuring that when I need to I can find local sticks or rocks, and that just about always works for me, but a couple more or less of those ti shepard's stakes that you mentioned really don't weigh much either.

Best wishes for many, many wonderful nights in your new tent!