I think the SAO arc was too short. Also, I felt that it was a little too relationship based.
I felt cheeted in that there was in my opionion very little exploration of the world and any real feel of MMORPG.
The MMORPG basis felt very... token?
Fight scenes were minimal and all relationship based mostly, not many epic battles or anything.
Basically I liked the first half, even though I wanted more fighting. I really got iritated the second half and didn't really enjoy it.
I hadn't watched expecting it to be so shojo, I would have watched something else if I wanted fluff. I expected it to be more Noir, Evangelion, Bebop... Just more action.
EDIT: On second thought, I realised that my reaction to this has been similar to a lot of the newer shows I have watched... maybe that is why I watch very little now-a-days.
The shows that try to blur the shojo/shonen lines seem to fail more... maybe I am just getting too old lol