I now see why the DNN core team decided to wait for Whidby. The 1.x way of browser detection is muttled and poorly implimented. The 2.0 Framework is not only a better architecture, but it is also much more elegant.
I went into my machine.config for both 1.1 and 2.0 and after only a few minutes, I recognized how much better the 2.0 architecture is for supporting mobile devices running the various versions of Pocket PC and so on. So much easier to update and maintain is this architecture, that even a mid level developer can add new browser definitions without much hassle.
I will now get off my soapbox and say what I intended to say:
I updated my DNN install to 4.3.4, and refinished my transparent container to more closely fit the DNN example, and viola! my skinning woes are gone. It seems that the 1.1 framework is beginning to show its age. I didn't have to update just my machine config, I needed to update my framework. Everything is looking fantastic on both my PPC running WM5 and my blackberry.
For those of you on the fence, the benifits you gain by upgrading to the 2.0 framework far outweigh the work involved in upgrading your DNN 2.x/3.x custom modules. It's really no contest IMHO.