I think I have done a chop off between every darned chopper I own at one time or another. I plan on selling off some of them. The CG is just fine. Back in 2007 I stripped and sanded my DF. I wanted one in satin finish. I'm just not big on painted blades. Well about the time I finally got my DF looking pretty good, Dan brought out the DFLE. I loved it. It looked way better than my ghetto satin version, which I sold. In addition, the new DFLE had a full flat grind which lightened the blade and made it faster in the hand. As far as chopping goes, the original, with the heavier blade, is hard to beat.