Since forums tend to be a haven for problems, are there any success stories out there?  Best practices?  Tips?  Hardware that works tried and true out of the box?  I am hoping there are many cases like this.  Please feel free to post them here.

I am having the same issue with the clean, quick, DVD install, and I have an Nvidia 7900GS.  I am trying the Kubuntu install with the MCE package dropped on top of it now.  Will report my findings.