LR has the same exact noise reduction as ACR which comes free with Photoshop. The current noise reduction capability wasn't a LR advancement, it was an ACR advancement, but it sure wasn't played up that way. LR uses ACR's raw engine. It's exactly the same.

For import ease and especially speed, I prefer Photo Mechanic. I can shoot up to 10k photos in a day - always raw, and LR just can't keep up with Photo Mechanic. When it comes time to actually review the photos after import, PM blows LR out of the water by miles and miles.

PM also integrates with CS5 for external editing, but it isn't a DB program.

LR definitely has it's place, but for me that place has been becoming increasingly smaller.