I have the Hogback and love it for backpacking with my family of four. I used it once solo, because I was lending out my 2-person tent (that weighs about the same). I got lost in the tent. It is a very big tent for 1 or two people. Tarptent's in general seem to be much more spacious than the tent you buy in the big box stores. I have seen comparisons and Tarptent's 2-person tents were much more comparable to Big Agnes 3-person tents. For big unrelated guys you would definitely need extra space, but for you and your wife you might want to consider a TarpTent 2-person model. The Stratospire 2 is supposed to be a particularly spacious tent.

You mentioned the desire to look through mesh at the stars. The Hogback and Stratospire are both double wall tents.





In terms of issues with freestanding. I think it is an issue more in people's minds than in actuality. I have not found it an issue. Every tent (whether or not it is freestanding) needs to be staked down to not blow away in the wind. Most commercial "freestanding" tents requires the vestibule to be staked out to be functional. You might loose the ability to adjust the location of the set-up tent easily, but most of my site adjustment happens before I put in the poles. In tight tent spots you may get to a quasi-functional state quicker with a freestanding tent, but rain fly's flapping in the breeze don't protect you from rain very well.