http://dave.clan-adrenaline.com/
I've added a bold font on the rollover and lowered the font-size. i think that looks better...
Also i don't think the bottom one is "amateur-ish" Transparency is Popular, easy and the only browser you have to worry about is IE6, which is vary rarely used and there's a PNG fix here http://www.twinhelix.com/css/iepngfix/
well, whats the site for? =\ and whats the rest of the theme going to be?
It's going to be a personal site, where i can post work from doing special effects, video editing etc. May also have it as a blog.
I'm into dark designed websites. but it depends. If i use transparency the site will be very colorful, to get the most out of the transparency. If the top one it will be a much darker design. not all dark though. THere will be colour. red, black, grays and whites