Thanks Colin,
I swapped the 8600 GT with the 7600 GS graphics card from another computer, and got to the A/V Wizard. Curious thing though, in the selections, I cannot seem to select the 1080p resolution even at 50 Hz (The TV complains about invalid signal). My TV is Sharp Acquos 1080p and I get 1080p from my DVD on the other HDMI input. I chose the 720p in A/V Wizard and was able to install LMCE perfectly. I got the flickr screensaver, played some DVDs and CDs. About the 1080p I know this has something to do with the graphics driver. Can anyone confirm?
Now when I restart, it gets stuck on the kubuntu splash screen. Does anyone know how to get to the quiet option with no splash screen? The TV says that it is getting a 1080p input. I had selected 720p in the A/V Wizard since 1080p was not working. Anyway I will keep playing around with it to resolve this. Any help would be appreciated of course.
***************Edit: ************************
I found out the cause for this problem. I had plugged in a second drive, and kubuntu bootup was saying that '/dev/sda1' could not be found. How do I get it to bootup with the first drive after adding the second drive? My plan was to store all music, movies etc. on the second drive. That way even if I reinstall the final version for 0710, my media would be safe on the second drive. Does anyone know how to do this? I will start a separate thread on this.