Hi LeeAnne,
You're going to love your Halcyon BP&W. They're a good company and stand behind their products. I've purchased 2 single tank BP&W rigs from them and one doubles rig over the years. The only time I needed help with a leak in a wing, they promptly replaced it with no questions even though the damage was probably my fault. I loved the handle I had on my Halcyon wing. I loved how small and compact it was. I managed to amortize my main H BP&W down to under $1/dive before I declared the wing ready for retirement since the black was fading and I had a few urchin spines in it. I'm sure I could dab some aquaseal on there and safely use it for years to come if I wanted.
My current BP&W is a DSS mainly because Tobin is just up the road from me and I can drive up there and drool over his machine shop from time to time. To me, there is something really special about seeing each of the machines used to make the parts for my DSS rig and having an intimate understanding of how it all goes together (I'm an engineer, I can't help it...). I also like to support local mfrs whenever I can. The last point I'll make about DSS is that you can easily get at the inner bladder on many (all?) of their wings and make patches to fix any small holes from accidents or rough handling. I'm hard on my gear so this is a great feature for me.
We are really fortunate to have so many good businesses in the tech and tech-leaning dive equipment community. I'm sure that OMS, DR, Hollis, or any of the other major players all have great products and would take good care of you, too.
Any BP&W is going to let you slip through the water with much less effort than a vest style BC and help you keep trim easier. Having good trim will let you relax and focus your attention on whatever it is that you're currently interested in (be it worshiping worms like that silly Max Bottomtime or grabbing for your valves while trying to learn to back kick like that nutjob Overstreet).
The long hose thing sure is nice when you're diving with similar folks. It can be cumbersome when you're the only one dressed like that, though. When I took my rescue class with 3 other typical rental gear folks, I found it to be extra work. I screwed up really bad one time by donating the long hose to a very real and very scared OOA diver who subsequently floated up and let go of the reg while I was reaching down for my SPG (that person had a gear failure and was way positive and I didn't recognize it). If a typical diver (non long hose trained) comes up to you OOA, don't treat them like your long hosed buddies - give them air and then grab on to them - at least for a few seconds until you figure out what is going on.
Don't get too caught up in the religion side. It changes so quickly that one could make a full time hobby out of just trying to keep up. Keep having fun and surround yourself with folks who add to your enjoyment underwater!
Cheers,
Ross-O