Yes
Yes
Yes
-- okay, serious time now...
It is pretty heavy - I would say a good 6-7lbs with the ballhead. It is sturdy and solid, but heavy... I hiked 3-4 miles with it and didn't have too much of an issue.... depending on what you plan to use it for it might not be THAT bad in weight.
I like it a lot. Going from a cheap $40 Velbon to the Manfrotto was night and day. I got it because my monopod was a manfrotto and I wanted to swap cameras and lenses from my tripod to the monopod and back.
The 488RC2 is MUCH better than the 486. Not only does it hold more weight, it has separate pan controls from the ball control... very nice for panning around for landscapes.
My one complaint would be the center column... to make it horizontal you have to unscrew the ballhead, pull the column out, place the ballhead back on, etc... too much work for one or two shots.
They do have a new tripod, 190x or something like that -- can switch from vertical to horizontal column in a jiffy- -- looks really cool.
All in all, I am glad with my purchase. If I ever become a pro and am hiking 20 miles to get a shot, I will spend the $600+ on a super-strong, but lightweight tripod -- in the meantime, this works very well.
