Now that I've used the scope a few times and remounted onto a Manfrotto 055CX3PRO (carbon fiber, 3 section, tall enough so that I don't need the column) I am ridiculously impressed. This scope is incredibly clear and sharp across the zoom range of 25-60 with no false color detected yet. I am so glad I bit the bullet and popped for an alpha scope, especially this one. I liked the Swaro scopes I looked through but I feel this scope is better suited to my wants and needs - the big fluorite objective being chief among them. Adequate close focus, a truly wide angle zoom ep, light weight, no false color, and decent for astro use.
I will continue to use my TV-85 as an astro scope which is its forte but a quick side by side daytime showed little difference optically depending on eyepieces used. With the TV-85's 2" diagonal and various TV eyepieces, it's hard for me to make detailed comparisons of things like FOV at X distance. Suffice it to say, that the Kowa is no better but certainly no worse and far easier to use for birding (ergonomically). I was a bit concerned about my old Manfrotto 501 head until I used it. There may be better heads out there these days but IMO, a head of this size and mass is better suited to a scope of the size of the 883 than a smaller, lighter one may be.
The best thing about this Kowa package (with the field case attached to the mounted scope, is how light it is (remember, I'm coming from my astro TV refractors (heavier by at least twice) on heavier mounts (the TV-85 is mounted on a Telepod head and Manfrotto 475B tripod, probably a good 20-25# with a tube that's 22" with the 2" diagonal vs. 13.5" for the Kowa). The 883 mounted up on the 055 tripod and 501 head is a little over 11#.