Quite different experiences. My first char was a Jedi Knight sentinel and that was quite tough to lvl, until I got my healer at ~ lvl 35. Even then I had to use every tool in my box to succeed, with one mistake usually being fatal. The amount I spent on repairs was staggering
Conversely on my BH I plow through everything with little downtime, and have hardly spent anything on repairs. Merc spec with Mako healing and easily take down same lvl gold elites.
The difference is truly night and day.