I own a first generation 2.16 macbook pro Core Duo 2GB
I've played all the following games via bootcamp:
F.E.A.R. and it's 2 expansion pack
Timeshift
SWAT4
FARCRY
Chronicles of Riddick
Star Wars: Republic Commando
call of juarez
Rainbow Six Vegas
HL2,HL1,counter strike
Ghost Recon 2
Brothers in Arms: road to hill 30
Brothers in Arms: earned in blood
even played Crysis demo, it run ok on medium setting
and those on mac os X:
Battlefield 2142
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Guitar Hero 3
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty Deluxe Edition
First to Fight
Quake 4
All of them run good, some on high setup. the only game that didn't run that good was Rainbow Six Vegas, but it's a terrible 360 port anyway.
Well that's the gaming part.
I'm a recent computer engineering graduate and this baby (my MBP) got me through real tough times. I've done lots of projects on it, it's great for software development and web development. I was the only guy with a mac, 80% (if not more) of my college mates ended up buying a mac because of mine!!!
it's a great machine, I won't give on it until apple releases the next OS point release. So I say go for it, if you can't afford a new one. even if it's an old machine it's still better than a brand new macbook or even most of the current PCs.