Jerry, my GR HD has maybe a little bit more field curvature than the Nikon SE, and virtually no astigmatism when you get the edge to focus. As a result, the view is almost sharp edge to edge. CA is not present in most viewing condition, either. I've sensitive to CA (the 8x32 SE has too much CA in a lot of situations for me), and am a big sucker for the low curvature + low astigmatism combination, so the GR HD has worked well for me. Granted, I've not tried the offerings from Minox, Meopta, and Pentax, but I am not aware of any binoculars under $1000 that has ED glass, a flat field and low astigmatism at the edge. What's lacking optically in my GR HD is the vibrancy of the view that I'm used to in the Nikons I have. Objects seen through the GR HD always seem just a tad less contrasty than the SE or the EDG. For this, I'd rate the optics to be 90% of the SE, or the EDG. Which, IMO, definitely put the GR HD in the league of the 'alphas'.
The weight stopped to be a problem after I got the Op/Tech pro strap. Now, the GR HD is more comfortable to wear for a long time than my 8x32 SE with the stock Nikon strap. The build quality is excellent. The ergonomics is ok for me. The focuser is very fast (overall about 300 degrees, and most of it is from the 5-feet minimum focus distance to 10 feet), and can be slippery when it's raining or if you have gloves on.
I've always been shopping on the "value" side. For $500, the GR HD provides almost as good a value as the Nikon SE, not to mention Leupold's life-time warranty for the GR line.