If you're doing short runways (MDW,LGA,DCA,SNA , etc) you'll get pretty sharp on performance tradeoffs. Of the current generation of airliners it probably has the worst runway performance.
It should be called 'the little wing that tried'. Certified at FL370. I doubt you'll see much above FL330 or FL340.
Cables moving tabs which move the control surface. In other words, slow, and somewhat sloppy/mushy response. You get used to it.
Noise? Really quiet. Push the power up and it's like a video game, dials move but you don't hear anything. People in back do, like N1 beat, but the cockpit is very quiet. The loudest thing was the FMC(?) cooling fans on the ground. At rotation they stop and it would make you jump "uh, oh, we just lost something."