1. I haven't had a personal reason to try and remove the contacts and bookmarks items. Even if they were removed, I don't think it would increase the amount of space available to view running apps.
2. I am running Penguinbait's KDE, which works great. I can take notes on my Xournal app in Maemo, export them to PDF and the when I get home, I can boot into KDE and print the PDFs directly from my n800 to my network printer.
3. Video on Skype would be great. It's a closed-source application, and I don't think Skype had any commercial reason to develop Tablet version of Skype any further then it already has. What would be more likely is for Google to improve it's non-Tablet Talk app so that video can stream between Tablet and non-Tablet platforms.
4. I carry my n800 in a sleeve designed for a portable Hard Disk. It's a canvas sleeve with a velcro closure. I keep it in my front pocket.
5. Xournal is my number one app. I use Kagu for my media player. I sometimes use Pidgin for IRC chat. Penguinbait's KDE. Videocamera.
6. I can record video directly from my n800 and post to YouTube. Listen to audiobooks with Kagu. Take handwritten notes that can be printed directly to a network printer (once booted into KDE.)
7. I honestly use my n800 for most of my online life. I rarely use a fullsize computer anymore for anything. I mostly use my n800 for listening to Podcasts, reading ebooks, taking notes.
8. Number one tip: Get a USB OTG cable. I hook my n800 up to a USB hub to get access to Keyboard and Mouse. I can also hook up a USB Hard disk, USB CDROM/DVDROM drive. Once the noBounds project takes off, I expect to be able to plug my n800 into a usb hub and have a nearly full functional PC that can also go anywhere.