Comparing two different beasts. That said, SWTOR's single-player-go-through-the-story obviously blows SWG away, but there is pertinear no sandbox element.
I played SWG happily until the CU, then I was a very sad person. I went back for the sole purpose of playing JTL every now and again, but the MMO bit was dead to me. SWG pre-CU had many problems - even though I've got the rose glasses of rememberance on I remember that. I don't think the CU/NGE fixed those problems, though. It tried to force mechanics onto the Galaxies engine that just didn't work, making the game even less fun. SWG was never made for "WoW-Like" combat and it didn't play well with a similar system bolted on. SOE lost sight of what they were trying to make and fixed the wrong problems IMHO.
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All of that said, I think if you enjoyed SWG for the star-wars feel, you will be pleased with SWTOR. I miss being able to play as a Wookiee and decorate my own house out on the sands of Naboo, or build a FRICKIN CITY for my Guild, but SWTOR is not here for that. Bolting those systems onto SWTOR would feel as clunky as the SWG CU.