"Hard" is a very relative definition. I played a warrior for years in WoW, and am an avid gamer, so the SW/JK are like coming home to a comfy blanket to me. To someone who has never played an MMO, never played a class with this type of resource mechanic or abilities, it might very well seem difficult.

As it stands, this is what we get right now. It is known that BioWare is working on certain options like Anti-Aliasing which should be enabled in the near future, and it's possible that we'll get "ultra" settings in the future, but for now, this is what it is.

Check this post: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=3396

Typically, a planet has quests for a certain level of player - this is shown when you look at the planet in the galaxy view on your space ship. The equipment you can buy from vendors will probably be on the lower end of the scale of those levels, and you'll have to hunt down where a vendor for your armor type is. You can use a website like TorHead to track down which vendors sell what on a planet, if you like. The vendors at the fleet will muddy the mix, as they will likely have stuff for a wide level range. Finally, it should be noted that it is most likely that you will not find the best gear by buying from a vendor. In mmos you are most likely to get the best gear as drops from instances, mobs, quest rewards, and sometimes through crafting. This is typically opposite of single player MMOs where you will hunt for that one vendor who sells the best stuff, or craft yourself the best stuff.

He's not in your inventory. Open you abilities window (default "p" key) and select the general tab, he'll be there. The same goes for mounts.

Every tier is unlocked by using 5 points. You don't have to spend 5 points in each tier to unlock the next - theoretically if you could spend 20 points in the first tier you'd be able to spend the next point in the 5th tier. If you'd like to plan, use the skill planner available at http://www.torhead.com/ to truly figure out what you can do.

At this point you can't import them, and it appears they are all stored server side. You'll have to set them up manually.

No, the green stims do not persist through death.

Artface made me chuckle... yes, the artifice skill can craft them as well.

There's a discussion on Twi'lek and their hoods here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=50092 Sounds like you just can't have a hood up as a Twi'lek.

You can buy them off the GTN or you can extract them from moddable drops.

Also, just to clarify this - the M17x cannot "hold" a GTX 560M, it indicates their current production units are produced with that chip built into the system. There is a difference, in that if you have an older M17x, you cannot just swap out the video card for an upgrade like you could with a desktop.

There is a difference between minimum and recommended specs, and while I'm sure you meet minimum, I don't believe you meet recommended specs.

"Don't see nothing" - I see everything!!! Take a look at this thread, it has information regarding the black screen after pressing play: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=3396

Used? On sale? There's no way you bought a new M17x 2 weeks ago with a geForce 9400 in it.