I got the laptop hooked in yesterday and got my issues sorted out. For some reason the power bar had a split personallity and was appearing twice in the menu. Deleted both and started over and now it seems to be working better. It was a whole lot simpler and faster programming in the browser than using the display pad.
I've ordered the breakout box for it now so I can wire in some extras like a float switch and such. I still need to get some programs set up for shutting down stuff for water changes and such using the feed timer feature. Also have to set up the networking so I can utilize the e-mail alerts and such and I haven't done any firmware updates yet either. I'll have to figure out a temporary connection for that; as the router is a long way from the unit, I may pull it all out and set it up for the updates then put it all back together on the tank again. Eventually I hope to network it wirelessly.
Now that its sorted, I'm a lot more satified with it. I was starting to think I'd got a dud.