I went from a 52-39-30 triple with a 12-25 cassette to a new bike with a compact 50-34 with a 12-27. Since all I do is hills, I immediately found that I miss the half a gear on each end. So, I changed out the cassette to a SRAM 11-28 to get just about the same coverage as I had with the triple.
I much prefer the compact. With the triple I was constantly working the FD. With the compact, I'm using the FD a lot less.
I don't notice the mind or notice the larger gear spread with a 11-28