I find them rather long lasting myself, and quite comfortable. I think it depends on the guitar, your body chemistry and how bright a sound you want- I know some Martins sound quite flat with the coated strings, whereas my taylor 414 sounds (to my ear) quite nice when fingerpicked. (My Ovation sounds like crap unplugged with them, but it also sounds like crap unplugged anyway!)

I also tried the d'addario coated, which I liked, and Martin coated, which I did not like; these seemed to pronounce finger noise on my guitar and with my playing style.

Like most stuff, it's a matter of personal taste. Two of my favorite contemporary folkies, Richard Shindell and Darryl Purpose, seem to get incredible tone out of them.

Jim