DeMignon: In terms of equipment, an import isn't much of a boost. Especially when the game is patched, you get the DLC armor pieces and the Blue Stripe jacket, which are better than what you import. You should also get round about 1% of your savegame money on top of the regular starting amount. What's nice, is that previous decisions from TW1 take effect in TW2. Not groundbreaking, but they are referenced, which makes it interesting. So, I would do the import, although you won't benefit much from better equipment (except maybe the Moonblade).

irdonald: ..., I guess I could find a save online which would alter these things.

irdonald: I assume Ravens armour was of more use prior to the DLC stuff?

DeMignon: I wouldn't do that, just for the Moonblade. You don't know which course the storyline of this save took in detail. The fun thing is to get references of your previous game play in the sequel.DeMignon: Yes, that's the point, but it was never a huge boost, anyway.

DeMignon: Equipment is important in the game. You have to rely on it and it's hard to skip certain items. It would feel unnatural in-game, thus hurting the RPG experience.

Like its predecessor, The Witcher 2 tends to be too hard in the beginning (prologue and chapter one) and easier in the later parts. No matter if you use DLC gear or not. Potions and Oils aren't forced, meaning there's no real need for them except for some special encounters.
I countered this by playing TW1 with a mod that increased the difficulty way over the original hard level. The challenge was very fulfilling (except maybe for the first few fights ;-)

Try playing on a hard level (without permanent death, like on Insane difficulty) and before looking for difficulty mods, check the Full Combat Rebalance 2 mod on CD PROJECT RED's website.
http://redkit.cdprojektred.com/index.php?c=mod&m=show&p=77
It's pretty new and I haven't tested it yet, but surely will.

Edit: bengeddes points out, that the mod changes a lot, altering the original game (see here). Think about it, especially when you're planning to do a second play-through. If you don't have the time/interest, I'd still take a closer look on this mod.