Porting Time Machine data from 2008 macBook to new iMac i7

I've really only had to import stuff from TM once, and that was recently.
I didn't have such good experience with it. Im fact I ended up having to do a clean install of the OS.

But I'm almost 100% sure that was a HDD issue. So you should be good to go.
Not many people have complained about TM. Actually most of the time it's been the opposite, people love using it.

Did it from my 2007 MacBook to my 27in i5. No issues at all. Worked great. Was exactly like how I had my MacBook.

Are you just porting data or software too? If it is data, you shouldn't have a problem. If it is software, you might have a few more issues. I do actual bit for bit images of my harddrives. I upgraded from an '09 MBP to a new i7 and tried to reimage the drive. It wouldn't boot so I had to reinstall the OS over the top. There are some issues with drivers not being installed correctly. It isn't a big deal. If it doesn't boot after the restore, just reinstall the OS and you will be good to go.