Is the New Zoom H4 essential the perfect field recorder for my Stereo Recording setup? 

Thanks man. The H series definitely has some serious upside as far as portability goes. In fact if you're only using a set of Clippys, I'd say go straight to the F3 and be done with that. I use my F3 with a set of LOM Usi Pro mics and it does a wonderful job every time. And it all fits in a small sling bag.

reviews on the H4essential are not great. You may want to look into Zoom F3 if two tracks are enough, or Tascam X6 with four inputs, kinda like the H4essential.