xBox 360 Pro w/ HDMI - WTF?

I had pre-ordered Halo 3 before I sold my xBox 360 (with the intention of buying a 360 Elite) so I decided to purchase a xBox 360 Pro as they now include the HDMI port (one of my primary reason for wanting to upgrade to the elite).

I went to Fry's last night and purchased the last premium and set it up to play a bit before I had to go in for some sever work (12:00am - 4:34am); problems:

1. The new system sounded like a fan was dying (my prior system was VERY quiet- maybe I should have kept it?)

2. I could not update from xBox Live update; I kept getting 'you must update' - 'update failed' flip-flop messages.  (This turned out to be me needing to open some ports on my router)

3. The HDMI output is so close to the normal A/V port that both cannot be used at the same time- so to use the L+R or fiber-optic audio out put from the xBox 360 I cannot plug in the HDMI cable:

It appears the design of my later complaint is so Microsoft can sell me an A/V adaptor and HDMI cable for $50;

I returned the 360 this morning.

I am now contemplating if I want to get an xBox 360 Elite which includes this $50 cable + an upgraded 120GB hard drive (pro had a 20GB) or wait until the 'holiday bundle' is out...