I just did SIN-SYD as well on PE and I actually liked the seats. I was on the 77W on the outbound leg and I thought the greater incline made it more comfortable to sleep in. The only complaint I have though was that the position of the headphone jack was hardly intuitive and it took me a while to find it. Otoh, it also meant that you do not have a cable stringing across to the seat in front of you if the person next to you wants to get out.
Some other observations
- Meal service is Y more than J (not surprisingly), but you get more options (3 instead of 2) and I think the selection is better (in terms of what you can get). BtC is a nice fallback, if you don't want to chance whatever is being served on the plane though.
- The table is a little higher than Y and more easier to eat or work off.
- Because there are less seats in the cabin, overhead bin space is not a problem.
- There was an even mix of families and business travellers in the cabin.
- The 77W had the newer IFE system (with touchscreen, and the PSP like controller), while the return leg on the A380 had the older IFE system (with the phone like controller). I had assumed that with the refitting of the cabin, they would upgrade all the IFE. Guess not.
- Although sold as one of the features, there really isn't much of a priority checkin nor boarding. In essence, you are treated like a *G passenger. So if you have *G, nothing to get excited about.
- The bottled water waiting on the plane is a nice touch.
- The amenities bag has the 'Lengths we go to' pictures printed on it. It also has buttons that will allow you to clip them together (daisy chaining them together). Not sure why you would want to do that, but you can. Apparently, there are three different designs but I got the same for both flights
Overall, would I pay for the difference? It's certainly nicer than flying in Y so for short haul, I guess it would depend on the price difference. For longer hauls, I think the extra money is worth it for the additional incline and legroom, especially if you cannot and don't want to stump up to J. The rest is more of a 'good to have'.