In my head, Jason is suggesting not buying one of the new machines because he read about my problems, so maybe this is still bitter and annoyed:

However, I don't think that Apple should've released these new PowerBooks without more testing. I don't think I've done anything particularly esoteric so far, yet my experience has been less than stellar.
Don't get me wrong, when the new MacBook Pro works, it works very well. But for the amount of money I've spent, and the sacrifices I've been willing to make (e.g, not being able to run "mixed-mode" apps, like in the 68k-to-PowerPC transition days), I feel like things should work better.

After a "proper" recharge-full discharge cycle, my MacBook Pro battery is reporting 5446 mAh capacity.

Followup

Wow. I keep finding more things wrong with this Intel machine. Now, if I plug in an external monitor (something I had not yet tried at home with my Cinema Display, but which I just tried now with a Princeton LCD19D flat panel display), I get a kernel panic. If an external monitor is plugged in when I reboot, I get a kernel panic. I've sent the crash report to Apple, but who knows if anyone will ever see it? Meanwhile, I'm now stuck without being able to use my big screens.
Here's the crash reporter info and the unfriendly message I sent along with it to Apple (I have no tolerance for crap like this):

panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0019CAEF): Unresolved kernel trap (CPU 0, Type 0=divide error), registers:
CR0: 0x80010033, CR2: 0x934ecd4c, CR3: 0x00d54000, CR4: 0x000006e0
EAX: 0x0000013c, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x13cfb6fc, EDX: 0x00000000
ESP: 0x13cfb60c, EBP: 0x13cfb6d8, ESI: 0x00000000, EDI: 0x00000000
EFL: 0x00010247, EIP: 0x0071aa44, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x13cf0010
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x13cfb4d8 : 0x128b5e (0x3bbeb8 0x13cfb4fc 0x131bbc 0x0)
0x13cfb518 : 0x19caef (0x3c1340 0x0 0x0 0x3c1028)
0x13cfb5c8 : 0x197b53 (0x13cfb5dc 0x13cfb6d8 0x71aa44 0x710048)
0x13cfb5d4 : 0x71aa44 (0x710048 0x122f0010 0x10 0x13cf0010)
0x13cfb6d8 : 0x71b089 (0x122fe000 0x0 0x0 0x20)
0x13cfb728 : 0x706739 (0x122fe000 0x1 0x10 0x20)
0x13cfb838 : 0x7082df (0x122fe000 0x13cfb8a8 0x4 0x0)
0x13cfb938 : 0x70ca59 (0x122fe000 0x4 0x0 0x0)
0x13cfb988 : 0x70baba (0x122fe000 0x4 0x8000000 0x10000000)
0x13cfb9a8 : 0x70c722 (0x122fe000 0x1fff 0x1fff 0x0)
0x13cfba08 : 0x702087 (0x122fe000 0x1 0x13cfba48 0x140774)
0x13cfba38 : 0x700aa3 (0x13cfbbce 0x122fe000 0x13cfba68 0x18)
0x13cfba78 : 0x70152e (0x122fe000 0x13cfbb98 0x281b9c4 0x284f8e0)
0x13cfba98 : 0x701681 (0x122fe000 0x13cfbb98 0x13cfbab8 0x19cb02)
0x13cfbad8 : 0x72002d (0x122fe000 0x0 0x13cfbb98 0x13cfbb98)
0x13cfbb68 : 0x596e28 (0x28d4800 0x13cfbb98 0x13cfbb98 0x85) Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.kext.ATINDRV(4.2.6)@0x6ff000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.3)@0x574000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.3)@0x58f000
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.3)@0x58f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.0)@0x565000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.3)@0x574000
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.6.1: Tue Mar 7 16:55:45 PST 2006; root:xnu-792.9.22.obj~1/RELEASE_I386
Model: MacBookPro1,1, BootROM MBP11.0044.B02, 2 processors, Intel Core Duo, 2 GHz, 1 GB
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1600, ATY,RadeonX1600, PCIe, 256 MB
Memory Module: DIMM1/BANK 1, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x168C, 0x86), 0.1.17
Bluetooth: Version 1.7.3f4, 2 service, 1 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Serial ATA Device: ST9100824AS, 93.16 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857
USB Device: Built-in iSight, Micron, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: IR Receiver, Apple Computer, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Bluetooth HCI, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
How fucking charming. A 100% reproducible kernel panic if I plug in an external monitor. Is my brand-fucking-new MacBook Pro a fucking lemon? Does its external video hardware cause a kernel panic, or is it crappy software? I know you guys never seem to develop while regularly swiching monitor configurations, maybe no one there ever bothered to plug in an external monitor? Fuck.
If I plug in a monitor after boot, or if I have it plugged in during boot, the machine kernel panics.
And crashreporter's "Send to Apple" button is disable when there's no network connection, but there's nothing in the dialog to indicate this is why. It took me 10 minutes of wondering how I was gonna get this info sent to Apple to realize I had not yet gotten on the wireless network here at work (because the crappy Migration Assistant failed to migrate any of my preferred networks' information over).

I decided to run my battery down to do the calibration as suggested in the MBP manual. I got one warning about imminent sleep, and dismissed it. As I was copying a folder, the Mac went into forced sleep right in the middle of playing the "copy complete" sound. It repeated this sound a half-dozen times before the system finally went to sleep.
It darkened the screen, the little white LED came up dully (as it does when the screen's asleep), and then eventually it went into full sleep mode.
I tapped the shift key, to make sure it was really asleep. On my PowerPC AlPB, this is ignored. On this machine, it woke right up. I used it for a few more minutes, and then it completely shut down losing anything I had not yet saved. This was pretty bad.
I've now launched XBattery and plugged it in. Let's see if it gives us any more juice. Currently: 5419 mAh capacity, 3 cycles.

My cat knows better than to walk on my desk. But, because the office is so messy, that's her preferred way to get to the window sill.
So, I'm sitting in the living room, and she comes over, so I pick her up and turn her upside down, as I'm prone to do. I notice a little piece of paper stuck to her belly. It's the "activate this card" sticker from a credit card I just got, which I had left smack dab in the middle of my desk.
Busted!