After changing the the farm account to a domain user account I get the following error when trying to access the Central Administration page:

"Cannot connect to configuration database"

After I realized the headache may not be worth it, I decided to a reinstall using the following SP user account guidelines: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662513.aspx

After getting everything up, I am getting an error when using the designated farm account under the Central Admin Website > Manage Service Accounts: "Access denied"

If it is the farm administrator, why would I not be able to manage service accounts? I am able to access the other part of the admin site. Also, when logging in with the farm account it lists me as a "system account" not the domain account which I used for log in.

Am I missing something or is this normal behavior? Am I not suppose to login with the farm account?

When I log in with the Setup account (also a domain account) I can access everything with no errors on the site. The only difference between the two accounts is one has local admin privileges on the Sharepoint farm server which is the setup account. if you notice those privileges are not necessary for the farm account according to the article cited.