I had the fully serrated Viele for A while. It got lots of compliments, but I find serrated blades to be nearly useless, and WAY more trouble than what they are worth in terms of sharpening. Maybe I'd think differently about it if I was cutting lots of rope, though. So, either way, I would strongly suggest the plain blade. That said, I got lots of compliments on the Viele. It is a sharp-looking knife. It is defintely a show-piece, and seems to be intended more as a gentlemen's knife. I didn't find the blade shape to be all that useful, really. Also, the opening hole is very small and set very close to the handle. The handle is also quite thick above it, which adds to the challenge of opening the knife. Its action was pretty smooth, but I had to lube it frewuently to keep it that way.
The Viele is a nice knife, but just doessn't seem to be intended for everyday medium-hard use. I would get the Khalsa if I could find one.