i bought the new model a week ago and i love it. I got the 2.4Ghz 2GB ram one, at a very good price. In store it would have cost about 2160 after tax but I got it for 1750 total after rebates.
If cheaper price is a priority just get the older model. The main differences are the design of the comp, the ports, trackpad, and the graphics card. I never owned the old MBP so I cant give you a comparison.
One thing I really like is the trackpad finger motions. once you get used to it it comes in real handy. I can just hook up a mouse to this thing and with one hand pinch in and zoom in and out of an image in Photoshop while i work, or just twist my fingers around and rotate. If you ever used an iPhone its the same thing but you can use up to 4 fingers at once.
If your working offline you can squeeze out about 5 hours of battery life, and if your actively browsing around etc, with the wifi on you get an average of 3 1/2 to maybe 4 hours. If your gonna be using the thing outside alot the glossy screen will kind of annoy you but they sell matte screen covers that could fix the glare problem, it hasnt bugged me yet.
p.s. get yours at
www.macconnection.com those prices are gonna be good till dec 31