This is a superb lens, top notch. I use the 210mm and the 360mm of the W series.
First all major manufacturers (rodenstock, schneider, fuji and nikon) had all excellent products, and equivalent glasses of the competition will be pretty equivalent in practice.
There is a sample to sample variation... usually there were more variability from sample to sample variation in a brand than real difference between brands, but anyway this should be a least concern in real pictorial situations.
Image circle is specified 295mm so it does not cover "totally" 8x10", but it can be used in 8x10". It is a 4x5" and 5x7" lens that can be used for 8x10". As circle is large for 4x5" then sometimes you may want to use a compendium shade to avoid light bouncing in the bellows and delivering some flare.
A famous user of the Nikon W series is just John Sexton, not more and not less. At the moment he made the decision reportedly he found it was the best choice, and also reportedly he owned several samples of some focals until he found an extremly superb kit, to overcome the slight variability that all LF lenses have. Over time, as manufacturers had been releasing different versions sometimes people preferred one brand or other, also forgein currency fluctuations a bit favored different brands at different times.
The W 210 is a general usage plasmat, having the most sound balance for general photography, of course there are lenses specifically designed for portraiture or for architecture, but as a lens for general photography you won't find its limits (at lest me I can't), always there is something in the real shot (DOF, film, alignment, etc) that will be the limiting factor, and not the glass itself. Regarding bokeh... japanese plasmats and german plasmats have slight different nuaces in the out of focus areas, but this is about taste... You may search LF shots in flickr to see this.
