The Asp's cockpit offers great visibility, but its looks are subjective. It's essentially a seat on a balcony. Some people like that, others don't. It's very useful if you're flying around on planets, but personally, I prefer the Clipper's and Courier's cockpits - or well, almost anything.
Another good word for the Clipper: compared to its stock fuel tank size, it can have an enormous fuel scoop. Combined with its great supercruise turning, it's a great ship for travel, and you don't even need to brake for stars. And yeah, looks are subjective, but I think you'll find that most people will agree that the Gutamaya ships look better than the Asp(s).
Well, yes. If you minmax your jump range, you sacrifice everything else. Anybody who does that should know the consequences. Sure, you don't need hull / shields / etc if you don't make mistakes nor does something unexpected happen, but if you do or it does, then it can mean the difference between getting away or staring at the rebuy screen. There's much less room for error if you're flying what's basically an FSD bolted onto a cardboard ship.
Obviously a matter of personal preference though, how much risk you're willing to take. (And if you'll even go planetside.) But on the whole, exploration is pretty much the least dangerous thing you can do in Elite. It's just that after a while, you'll have a lot to lose.
That said, both the Asp and the Anaconda can still have excellent jump ranges even on more versatile builds. A 40 ly full tank range will easily get you through all regions of the galaxy except the extreme edges (and with basic FSD boosts, even 35 or so would be enough), so above that, the only difference is being able to reach a bit more of the most sparse systems. Sure, you do need as much jump range as possible on the very edge, but if somebody's a newer explorer, that's probably not where they should be going.
