I think I'm in it now just to finish Hell and get to 60. Act I in Hell was really causing me problems, I died to almost every single pack or elite, often a few times, fortunately at 55 the repair costs are still not that bad.
All during this I get maybe 3-4 blue drops that are at my level and maybe a couple rares.. and they're all quivers

So gearing up through playing just doesn't cut it without spending tons of time.
So I went to the AH, spent about 60k (including a couple of weapons which got m DPS from 1800 to 3900), and now I can waltz through pretty much anything again.
And the gold/hour rate is much lower, so I agree with the sentiments above, I'm still at a point where I can find cheap gear for my level so still playing for now.