Question : Problem: Frustrated with new iMovie and GrageBand on my new Macbook Pro...???

I've got a little Macbook that I guess has an older version of iWorks on it.  It's the only Mac I've ever had and I used it very rarely, mostly just for recording YouTube videos.

I would open iMovie, capture myself performing a song with my guitar using the built in camera and microphone.  The original recording, both guitar and vocals, in iMovie pretty darn good, but then I'd go to Share -> GarageBand and move the video and audio there where I'd apply the Live Performance filter.  This added a tiny bit of reverb and I've gotten lots of compliments on YouTube about how good the sound is for such a simple setup.

Well, that Macbook pooped out on me.  Nice.  I just a brand new Macbook Pro with iLife 08 on it.  I immediately noticed that iMovie looks completely different.  Now, when I record a clip in iMovie it sounds like crap.  The sound of the guitar fades in and out and the vocals kinda does it but not as bad.  It sounds like a guitar that's plugged into an amp when the battery in the guitar is running low.  You strum a chord and it sounds ok at first but then quickly turns into weird electronic sounding mess and then back to good for a second, then back to bad, etc.  

Also, I see no option to transfer it into GarageBand anymore!?  Surely they've just moved this and not taken it away..??  It doesn't even show up under Share anymore.

Any information on why the mic in this new Macbook Pro sounds 10 times worse than the mic in my old Macbook or how to get my video into GarageBand like I used to would be greatly appreciated.  

Answer : Problem: Frustrated with new iMovie and GrageBand on my new Macbook Pro...???

You have this analyzed exactly correctly. The new version is a downgrade from your old version. Your hardware, of course, is much better. They simply moved the nice features you note(plus several others) to Final Cut Express. so the solution is simple. Either  uninstall iLife o8 or just reinstall your iLife o7(or lower) and have them coexist. All your features you note will come back just the way you like. Why? Apple simply wants people to move into the next step up for profits sake. This has happened before. if the outcry is loud enough, maybe your features will come back in 09.
So downgrade for your upgrade.