Want to buy a MBPR but afraid, have some questions

I can only give you my experience with the MBPr.

1. My battery life usually runs 6-7 hours of general usage. This is surfing, spreadsheets, word processing, image editing, and tons of mail. No issues and the charge always lasts my whole workday.

2. Image retention. Some displays from LG apparently have it as there are a few complaints. I believe Apple has chosen to replace the unit if you have one of the LG displays with that issue. My display is amazing.

3. I've not had a single system freeze in ML. I also run ML on an older MBP and an older iMac and these have not had any software freezes either. If there are users encountering issues it is likely due to third party plugins or other software that may not be up to date. The ML OS is very stable, IME.

4. This MBPr is incredibly solid. It does not "creak". IMO, the construction details are simply the finest you can find.

I've owned Apple laptops from their very first B&W models. IMHO, this is the finest laptop Apple has ever made. I've also owned, used and supported laptops from several other manufacturers and they were all much poorer in design and construction than Apples.

--
Jim
'There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.'
-- Ansel Adams