It does look pretty primitive compared to TNG, the ship has the whole "9 million buttons" syndrome going on and is obviously more cramped and with less ameneties than even the "original" Enterprise from TOS. I think that's probably the best they could hope for without having a totally bland set design. No shields and minimal transporter use do give a good impression that they're working with more primitive technology.
They seem to be going for a more active storytelling style so there are less 'fluff' episodes with nothing at all going on. A good first-contact episode is Cogenitor, but even that goes unexpectedly. (good story, bad turn of events) I get the impression they're leaving a lot of the gaps to the audience to fill in on their own, the more peaceful and less eventful stories that would have been TNG episodes are left in the background and referenced instead.
The time travel is hardly every episode, but it does show up 2-3 times a season, and more during the Xindi arc (season 3).. from what I've heard, season 4 will be a bunch of smaller, ~3 episode story arcs starting with the wrap-up of the Xindi arc. But the overall theme of the series has been it being a front in the temporal cold war so there are plenty of references to it and it's something they seem to want you to keep in mind.
You could always go read the
five-minute reviews if you need a laugh. =)
Captain's Starlog: The Vulcan ship isn't responding, so we have no choice but to go tell the knock-knock joke in person.