I'm not the biggest fan of the edge grind either... the blade itself is double beveled, V Ground, but the edge is a Chisel... that, in combination with being a Re-Curve, makes it hard to sharpen... buut.... if you make a little effort, and take the 15 extra minutes to get a really good edge on it, it'll cut like mad.
Or, you could take an extra hour, and a series of various grits of diamond hone, and make it a V grind like I've done with my commander. Its a lot nicer like that for work where you dont want the knife cut to pull off to one side or the other.
Emersons dont have the finest fit and finish, but the only thing I've ever noticed in that regard is that the liners arent super finished, they are a little rough. Everything else seems to me to be the fit and finish quality of Benchmade, Spyderco or others. All the new Emersons I've handled were some of the smoothest production knives I've found, to open and close. My Commander when it was new was almost smoother than the Emerson custom I had for a short-while (now there was a knife!).
I have done hideous things with my Commander, I've dug around in the dirt, I've made it cut things it shouldnt cut, I've used it as a screw-driver, to pry with, to chop with, I've used the serrations to saw through all sorts of tough materials.... I even used it to scrape tar off a tin roof one day. No wonder the liner needed a change after two years, its a wonder it didnt need it before.
I still say they are some of the toughest knives around... mine have been I know that.