Well.
I picked up a pair of G3 Synapse 109s on eBay. And GOODNESS GRACIOUS. I am so glad I went with full rocker; these skis are revolutionary.
On Saturday, WhetherMan and I toured a pleasant zone near Tahoe. We targeted 25-30 degree terrain; some tighter trees, some open shots. The snow was 3-day old dense pow; you never felt the bottom but it wasn't breaking over your knees either. Some areas were wind affected and a bit punchy.
On my Chargers, this terrain would have been fun (I mean, we're skiing pow in the backcountry, come on) but I would have burned up my quads struggling to break the skis out of their sidecut to avoid trees. Noodling in low-angle punchy snow, I would have felt that knee-tweaking grabbiness as the strong, flat tail got stuck between layers. Navigating between tight trees would have required a jump to unlock the ski from its turn radius and get going in a different direction.
Not so on the Synapses. I experienced all of the advantages mentioned in this thread, and so far none of the downsides. They made predictable arcs at speed. When a tree got in the way of my turn, I just rolled my ankles, slid sideways, then resumed my carve. They landed mini golf drops stably and predictably. I could ski them forward, centered, or even in the backseat without feeling any quad burn. Even downhill adventure skinning on breakable crust through willows felt easier than it should have.
On the uphill, I experienced no abnormal slippage, even allowing for the fact that this was my first tour of the season. Oh yeah, and they're 100g lighter despite being a little longer.
Caveats: Conditions were pretty darn good. I didn't ski any firm snow where camber might have been nice. Nor did I drop any steep couloirs where a strong tail might have given me more support. The skin tracks we used were moderately graded and not refrozen. I wasn't maching down open slopes, so I didn't push any speed limits.
But who cares! I'm sold. This was one of my best days touring in recent memory and I credit the skis quite a bit.
I'll put my Chargers on gear swap soon. How does $225 sound for local pickup in the Bay or Tahoe?