My ol lady just got the Admire. I have had terrible experiences with Samsung devices in the past (and zero bad experiences with LG devices), but they might have done some good with the Admire. It does feel snappier than my Optimus M (rooted, Sense ROM, running overclock kernel and stable at 748MHz) but I ain't been able to see what it can REALLY do because it's still new to the market and nobody has come up with a way to root it yet. There is a dev on here workin on a solution, last I read he/they were stuck with a signature verification issue.
As far as comparison to a stock Optimus 2.2 or 2.2.1, it's faster. A 2.2.2 Optimus wouldn't stand a chance since it can't even run for an hour without a reboot. When she went to pick out a phone, she chose the Optimus M, then took it back due to the issues and got the Admire. A rooted Optimus on 2.2.1 (mine) can hold it's own against it. Display quality is about the same between the two, and call quality is the same also. Graphics I ain't really had a chance to test out yet, Angry Birds gets a bit laggy on mine, will try it on hers. Ain't had much of a chance to mess with it yet, she won't let go of the damn thing, since upgrading from a not-so-smart phone