I was thinking the same thing. I thought the buttons were somewhat janky in my short time with one, and having physical buttons eliminates the freedom of movement offered by the buttonless design.
I noticed that sometimes when I adjust the volume when there is some sort of media playing (music, game), the notification volume slider pops up instead of the media volume slider, even though it still adjusts the media volume.
Also, you can touch the slider to adjust the volume or touch the icon on the right side of the slider to expand whichever slider is currently displayed to both notification and media.
Volume widget!! I don't like how the lower volume button seems to get covered up by the portfolio case when I have the tablet in an upright position. Seems like the back cover slides up abit, just enough to make it diffficult to press. You have to push it down to get to it.
Audio manager in the market does just that. I have it minimized in my taskbar and control my volume through that. I never have to touch the volume control on the side.