Prosper, I would have to respectfully disagree that the X758 is a far better mower than the 1025R. I had the X748 with the 60" seven iron deck for about 3 mowing seasons. It was an excellent mowing tractor. I had some issues with front tire scuffing along with the need to add a three point hitch and rear pto that lead me to start looking at the 1026R. I traded the X748 for the 1026R with the 60" seven iron deck (auto connect) in the spring of 2012. So, after a season and a half of mowing I believe that the 1026, and the 1025, will mow just as well as the X tractors.
Now there is one exception and that is the annoying ROPS. Even while folded, it still will hit and snag tree branches and you need to be more careful around structures like your deck. But in regard to maneuvering around trees, forward backward cycles, I see no loss with the 1 series tractors. You just need to watch the ROPS though.
But with respect to the quality of the cut it is really the same as the X tractor in my opinion. If you need 4 wheel drive you need to engage manually so its not automatic like the new X tractors. But I suspect most of us don't need the 4 wheel drive engage all of the time when mowing. The 4 wheel drive engagement is quite smooth on the 1 series so I don't feel a huge loss without the automatic 4 wheel drive feature.
I just thought that John Deere gets too much money for the 3 point hitch and rear pto option on the X tractors. Had they been a little more reasonably priced I might likely has stayed with the X series tractor. But for me, the sub-compact 1 series just offered a little more versatility.
Now, if Deere could just remove that annoying ROPS they would have an unbeatable mowing tractor in my opinion. But, since that isn't going to happen I will have to be content with being more alert around the trees and be ready for the occasional slap in the back with the branch.