Not really. I can move the camera up higher, in which case I can barely see my shoes, but can't see my whole body to compare the to. I'm on PS3, and that's the only way I've found to make the camera move further away from me. Am I missing something?

Unfortunately, I know nothing about the PS3. On PC we can zoom in on any item in our inventory so that we can see it better. Very useful when we need to see the symbols on a claw for example. If you can do that on your PS3 try to use the same button to zoom out on your character in third person.

Those 1.5 secons to tab out and back into the inventory can't be essential.

It is just a minor inconvinience. Sure, I'd like to have the Oblivion style character thingy back, but it doesn't break the game. I know why people are complaining, and repeating it in every f'ing thread on this forum like Germany just invaded Poland again, but why this kind of stuff? Why aren't there thousands of threads mentioning the semi-reta*ded followers or the fact that the world map is basically useless for navigation? No, it must be the minor GUI problems because nothing makes more fun than pointing out the cat in the room full of tigers.

I can zoom in on the items, but I want to see how they'd look on my character with the rest of her ensemble.

True, but they can become really irritating.

So the problem is not that people are complaining, but about what they are complaining.

Ah, the trouble with generalizing your audience. I am an rpger from way back "pre-personal computer" era. I've enjoyed going from the pen & paper D&D, AD&D to Arcade Video Games to computer games on the mainframe at university (my favorite being Colossal Cave where you had to keep your map in your head or diagram it on paper) and finally the rpg on computer. One of the things that I have always enjoyed is the availability of the Paper Doll in the Inventory window that allowed me to put on different sets of gear and rotate my character, see how he looked and make changes all without leaving the inventory window. Granted this feature is not available in Skyrim, is not likey to be available except via mods, but it IS something I would enjoy being put back into the game. It isn't about me being hip, cool or not know what oldschool looks like (since I do) and it isn't about being snobist. It's an expression about something that I enjoyed and would love to see back in the TES series, but I'm able to adapt and use what I've been given. Perhaps your responses would be of better use in your mirror rather than to the public at large.

Irritating yeah, but there are really bigger flaws. How many times did you got shot by your own follower? That is really annoying and should be fixed. ^^

Click the left stick and hold it in, then move the right stick up/down to zoom.

It will jump in an out if obstructions would prevent your char from being in the view, but the zoom will mostly be persistent for 3rd person.

Its really nize to 3rd person and zoom way out while walking in some of the cooler landscapes.