With HHonors you can earn Points & Points or Points & Miles. The base points is 10 per $. The alternative is either 5 more points or 1 mile. In most cases, 5 additional points is "worth" more than 1 mile.

As far as getting into the points/miles game with HHonors and Delta Skymiles, you couldn't choose two worse programmes for getting free nights or free flights. I would suggest IHG (easiest to earn free nights) and Alaska Mileage Plan (lots of varied partners) But you've found Flyertalk so you can do your own research and make up your own mind...