You patiently explained that casting Minor Creation was optimization, which it's not, and that spells couldn't possibly do anything because Wizards could do it first. Except the fact that Wizards are stronger isn't in dispute, and never has been, so that's irrelevant. What's important is that the Factotum's total access to the Wizard list, though slower than the Wizard, is still an exceptionally powerful ability. The fact that you can Planar Bind minions or raise armies of the dead a little slower than a Wizard does not make Planar Binding minions or undead armies weak, especially since you still cast all those spells at full caster level.
Wasn't it you who said Alter Self is broken at any level you get it? Fine, then Factotum spells are brokenly powerful by level 5. You can't argue that Factotum casting is both so powerful that it's overly optimized (Minor Creation) and broken (Alter Self) and simultaneously claim it's not one of their strongest abilities, while still maintaining that the class is weak.
Anyway, yes, Factotum SLAs are awesome. Some of the best ones for a Factotum:
Alter Self (hugely flexible, gain natural attacks or natural AC or various movement modes or skill boosts, and chose what you get when you cast it, plus the duration is great).
Minor Creation (Thank you endless Black Lotus poison! And hey, as a sneaky class very little stops you from dumping buckets of the stuff on a target, since it's a contact poison... unless they're downright immune, they WILL fail a save when they have to make hundreds of saves. Remember, every cubic foot of the stuff has about 1000 doses if each dose is an ounce).
Fabricate/Magecraft (Instant crafting, no skill points needed for most purposes)
Greater Magic Weapon/Magic Vestiment (great long duration buffs that are useful through all levels)
Grease (Hey look, instant flat footedness for those of you who like Iajuitsu Focus... cast this with your extra standard action and then full attack freely)
Shrink Item (If you can't think of awesome creative uses for this, you're just not trying)
Explosive Runes (Great to cast a few during downtime days, if you have some... you never know when this will be useful)
Polymorph (Do I need to explain this one?)
Animate Dead/Planar Binding/Create Undead/Create Greater Undead (Anything that gives you benefits tomorrow for spell slots used today is a darn good thing)
Celerity (Use it with Cunning Surge to take out encounters as an immediate action when you need)
Wraithstrike (Pretty obvious utility here)
True Strike (Remember, you can just get an extra standard action to cast this one)
Shivering Touch (The old dragon killer, and the one serious defense dragons have against this is SR. How nice that you have Cunning Breach. Don't forget that Spectral Hand, cast with an extra standard action, ensures you can blow away any dragon before he even knows you exist)
Plus, the other great use of the SLAs is that they let you use Craft Wonderous Items, which has all kinds of handy uses. Good times. Last time I used that fact in a game, I got complaints that it was totally overpowered. The abilities are also great with a Spell Storing weapon, as you can charge your weapon with Vampiric Touch and such without having a party Wizard or similar. And finally, the synergy of the SLAs with Spellthieves is incredible.
And another thing: don't underestimate Opportunistic Piety. You have perform as a class skill, so Lyre of the Restful Soul + Rod of Defiance works great to make this ability lethal. Sure, it's not many times per day, but it can be absolutely devastating.
JaronK