I have a friend who "upgraded" from a rev B 1.86/SSD MBA to a 13" MBP with 8 GB RAM and SSD. My rev C 2.13/SSD MBA runs circles around his Pro. He spent like $3k on it and wishes he could go backwards to his old MBA.
Specs only mean so much. Sucks that you all are having so many issues with your MBPs. Note about the 17" - there is definitely something different about it; I used one for a weekend, and it was Heavenly!
Best wishes in making your Pro run more like my Air!