Had mine done about 8 years ago under a bargain £400 per eye deal, probably the best £800 I've ever spent (although perhaps not the best thing to seek out a bargain for :p ). Can't remember what type I had but it was the older style one but went for that as although it was more painful post-op recovery there were supposedly less side-effects (particularly halo effects around lights at night, similar to if you've been swimming).
Anyway the op itself only lasted about 20 minutes and there wasn't any pain although it is a bit weird as you see the scalpel going to your eye then everything gets blurry...
Post-op I had extreme light sensitivity for a few hours (I was being driven back at night but even with my eyes shut and hands over them when an oncoming car's headlights hit me it was pretty painful). Next couple of days I spent in bed, mostly with my eyes shut and it felt like someone had rubbed sandpaper on them, I was given anaesthetic drops but told to avoid using them if I could - I did succumb a couple of times though.
A couple of days later I was fine with just a bit of light sensitivity, weirdly though for a couple of years following that I'd have the odd episode of light sensitivity, usually when driving to work in the morning (I've hated drivers that keep their foot on the brakes rather than use the handbrake at light ever since as during an episode it would be painful and cause my eyes to stream uncontrollably).
Been fine since then though, I tested better than 20:20 6 months after the op (last check up I had), think it's deteriorated a bit since then but still way off needing glasses (and can usually read stuff that people with glasses can't). Main reason I did it in the first place was I'd started to need glasses for driving and watching TV and they were just a PITA, certainly wouldn't have wanted the faff of contact lenses.
Given the latest options seem to avoid no post-op pain (according to the adverts on TV at least...) I can't see why you wouldn't want to do it if you're a good candidate.
