Wouldn't say `let` is so much better than `def setup` as a newcomer. `def setup` is simple and powerful enough and after a while you begin to wonder whether something like `let` exists.
class UserTest < TestUnit::TestCase
would end up looking for the User class because of the way it was written. (I believe Rspec does something like this as well but because it deviates from Ruby...it's harder to explain.)