questions on 15" MBP CPU/SSD

Hi, I'm an trying to decide if I should buy my first Mac. Sorry if I might be asking questions already posted in another thread, but I could not find a clear answer yet.

This is the configuration I am hoping to buy next week.
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
256GB solid-state drive

Question 1.) What kind of model is the Intel 3ghz CPU? I was reading some threads, where Apple used different models of the 2.8ghz or the 2.53ghz processor.

Question 2.) How is the performance on the Apple stock SSD? I could not find any kind of reviews or comparison charts on it. Would it be better I buy with a HDD option and swap with my own SSD? Also is the SATA cap affecting the 15" MBP.

Question 3.) From everyone's personal experience... how is the MBP compared to other laptops like a Dell XPS M1530? Am I able to do Samba or NFS mounts in Apple?

Thanks in advance for helping me to decide on this laptop. Wanted experienced users' feedback before I slowly transition from my XPS to MBP.