I almost ordered the old model when this new Spirit II was released. I was thrilled an updated version came on the market just as I was buying! The extra fifty bucks buys a lot and the price is essentially the same as the old model until a few months ago. This new Weber has many, if not all, of the features of the far more expensive Genesis 200-300 series, including both the GS4 grilling system and iGrill 3 compatibility. The ignition on gas grills is historically terribly unreliable, so I was pleased to note this one comes with a 10 year warranty, as does the whole grill! The new availability of colors was also a plus, I like my red one much better than the standard black. While I was initially not sure of the open cart design, it now seems to be much more practical and the grill does look better than the old style. Design wise I'm left with only one thing I really don't like. The new model comes with two wheels and two "skids" instead of four casters on the prior model. Weber should have either used two wheels and two casters, like on the Genesis, or at least made it possible to replace or refit the skids with casters as an accessory. Pushing is much better than lift and roll.Packaging and Assembly: Terrific Weber engineering is obvious upon opening the box. They've thought of everything when designing the packaging, and the unpacking, just cut the master carton down to remove the contents. The heavy box, as delivered, was pretty roughed up by the carrier, but after unpacking it was obvious none of the contents could possibly ever have been damaged. After completely unpacking everything there was not a scratch on anything. Do have an empty recycling container handy, there is a lot of cardboard! Weber has done everything possible to make for easy assembly. The parts are easily identifiable and there are dual instructions...an amazingly clear written Assembly Guide is included and a 3-D guide is available on the terrific BILT app. I did find one very minor discrepancy between the two guides, I'll just say Weber has included plenty of screws,so not to worry!Assembly of the grill was moving along well, even enjoyable, and just about finished... but then I ran into a significant issue which requires a WARNING! I was installing the left side table, the folding one, when I cut my finger badly on the bottom side of the table. It's a bit hard to explain exactly where this underneath "edge" on the folding side table is located, so I've included a picture. I'm thinking this cannot be on every unit made. I would like to think mine is the only one. This one was just not machined down properly or whatever. But I'm compelled to issue a warning here as the edge I'm speaking of, on mine, is razor sharp....this was not just a little nick, but a fairly deep slice.I was looking forward to giving this new grill five stars, but only due to the above issue I cannot. I'm actually writing this review before even using the grill because the issue is so important. However, my grilling expectations are high, for despite my problem during assembly Weber's legendary engineering and quality are quite obvious. I'll try to update after actually grilling for a while!