I am 5'1" and love my HP80's...I have three of them and even when tanks are included on all the local dive boats, I got to the effort to haul them to and fro when I'm wearing thicker wetsuits. It helps me trim off some of the extra lead needed.
My only pet peeve is getting full fills to at least 3400. A full tank of 80 c.ft. for me means I can complete 2 shallow reef dives with students on one tank instead of having to switch tanks (also means one less tank to refill).
I will sometimes ask for an HP 100 when I've got tons of neoprene, know I will only need 1 tank, just to eliminate a bunch of lead. It does feel heavy, but not really a big deal to get used too.
When the water is 84 deg and I am diving in a shorty or just a rashguard, then I don't mind the AL80s which is the standard tank here.
As for the weight of the tank, I grew up on AL80 and shifted to HP80s in SoCal to help with all the extra weighting required for cold water diving. After a few dives, it got easier to tote the tank around.
As TS&M stated, beware of pinching the bottom of the wings when setting down short tanks (the wings are longer than the tanks). DSS does make a tiny travel wing which fits these HP80s perfectly.
And then I started diving doubles, which I thought was overwhelming at first. First set was LP72s which now feel tiny, then AL80s got easy. It's still work to haul LP85s.
It's really about what you get used to. At first everything will feel different or difficult, but in short course will start to feel like the new norm.