That is very correct. Depending on what I'm doing, my SP1 battery doesn't last much longer than 2hrs. I may be able to double that if only doing light surfing and typing docs.
I dont know, i have a SP2 and if i was forced to only use single available kick stand option id get annoyed. i use the second kick (added to SP2) 95% of the time.
Better Battery life, better screen (same resolution, but improved, according to Microsoft), better speakers, better processor and graphics, and a better kickstand (2 position).
Depends on your use case. The main I held out for the SP2 was for the battery life. If you get a warranty on the refurb model that's not a bad deal SP1. For casual stuff I doubt the increased performance of the SP2 is noticeable.