I dont have time to get into it all now (its almost 1am and Ive been working pretty steadily since 8:30 this morning), but the pack job that the guy did will stand out in the annals of packing as the last modern miracle. Everything in, everything stayed where it was packed, all the fragile stuff made it through unharmed. Super-impressive.
I have some digital pictures, and as soon as I discover why my USB PnP isnt working (something to do with SP2?), Ill get right on posting them. Long story short, after 5+ hours of setup, the Entertainment center is mostly set up. Still some work to do, but the $200 worth of cables I bought today seem to do the trick.
More tomorrow, after 10 or 11 hours of work, that is.