7 hours to get to level 14.5 as UD mage. I dicked around with Herbalism (got it up to 60/75), Tailoring (60/75) and fishing (20/75) and I didn't try to blow through the quests or do them in any sort of efficient order. 1-12 in Tirisfall and Silverpine, then the rest in the Barrens. This may have been a decent representation of the madness of opening week with the competition for mobs, but I suspect it will extend up through lvl 20 whereas the competition died down after 12-ish this time around.
2 mobs is death (before CC) and elite are no joke (had a lvl 15 spider hit for 120 a pop). But, it was really fun to think about how to get a quest mob surrounded by lackies and have a sense of danger. Just running around through Silverpine was exceptionally dangerous due to mob density and character weakness.
By the end I had a green robe I made, a green staff from a quest, and green gloves I looted. Gave away a few greens to other classes as well. But, gear is rare and every bit helps.
I don't think 7 hours (call it 8 to hit lvl 15) should deter anyone. Yes, it's harder than the loot-lobby that is retail. But, it's not as bad as some people's memories make it out to be.