You are correct on both points. Expo will decrease the sensitivity around neutral. My first flight on the Edge was also a little twitchy until I got used to it. It has a very effective elevator if your CG is at the back of the recommended range, were mine is. I too am an all thumbs, newbie to this stuff. I have found that a little extra expo helps a lot until you get your fingers trained. I have found that the Edge flies very slowly at the low rates without running out of elevator. Heck, the thing practically will not stall if your idle is to high, it just cruises along slowly.