Good walk around lens

I have used this lens on my rebel xt for a walk around lens for about 6 months and enjoy it. The range is fine for me although some may rather have a wider angle, on the occasion I can't take a step or 2 back, I have used the rebel xt kit lens for the wider and it's been fine for me. I love the IS( slight hand tremors) and have not needed my tripod except for low light/night time shots. I have been able to use shutter speeds of 30 hand held, no problem, sometimes lower( much depends on tremors here so others might do much better)
I do not have another lens with this same range of aperture but occasionally the larger aperture end does not really seem to do what i anticipated... in dim light i need to use another lens. IE outside, taking a picture of a waterfall in moderate shade at around 50mm it simply will not focus.( tired different iso etc) Have not seen this problem mentioned in reviews so maybe it is my particular lens but have not had this problem with other lens.
While I am sure purists would find barrel distortion, edge softness etc, I don't notice it so IMO it's about average and not noticeable by the average user. I have made prints of photos from this lens 11x14 that are excellent and 16x20 that are good. ( rebel xt is 8 mp)
It has the old IS so no panning mode. You need to turn off the IS if you use it on a tripod or the images will be blurry.
It takes 72 mm filters. But how many do you really need with digital, maybe 3? so not a huge issue to me. Front doesn't rotate so no problem with filters
The construction is good, plastic housing but not that cheap brittle feeling plastic of the Canons 50mm1.8 and the 70-300 f4-5.6 IS. It is a fairly heavy lens, you know you have it on by the end of the day but not cumbersome. At 28mm it is approximately 4 " long, at 135mm 6" It feels solid in your hands, not flimsy.
The sharpness is very good, I have compared photos with this lens( 135 mm, 1/80 f5.6), the 70-300f4-5.6 IS and 70-200f4L. In my opinion the f4L beats it ( not a surprise) but it's a little sharper than the 70-300( A big surprise since i have seen reviews that pan this lens and say the 70-300 is close to L glass. Sorry do not know the info for the 70-300 as someone else took the photo but on the same camera).
The focusing is good, fairly quiet( not silent) and fast( USM) except in the lower light problem mentioned earlier. The zoom and focus rings turn smoothly, and are not overly stiff or loose so no problems I see there. The manual focus is usable full time. The closest focus is 20" and it is a macro. ( guessing the ratio would be in the 1:4 range so not a true macro)
No lock for the zoom so it does creep some.
All and all a nice lens for a mid priced "better than entry level" lens.