Note 4 is a much better phone and it costs about 1k more over alpha. It also has one of the best camera compared to other current flagship phones. It also has the best battery life for me, having used Note 2 and Note 3. No overheating issue if you stick with a stable Kitkat rom.
I found DirectD price less attractive these days, but they offer 2 weeks 1 to 1 exchange, free tempered glass replacement for 3 months if you're their member. Yes, I bought mine from them.
If your phone is rooted, i highly recommend flashing a custom rom (like wanamlite) because you may have problem with stock rom if KNOX is not disabled properly.