I use a lot the "blinks/blinking" camera setting (actually it is always on), have you tried it? that shows you the highlights, I tend to go very close to the highlights, it depends also on the subject, if I am looking for an isolation but even when outdoor I pull it up a bit, at least I know I am exposuring the scene quite well.. And has you said in camera raw we can use recovery.. Overall whatever you are shooting it mustn�t be 255 255 255 (once that is pure white as you know already) the objects/subjects/whatever might have a little (pure white) but pay attention because that may result in a lighting rejection (some or a lot will be approved, actually there are "top" photographers pulling it quite high, not saying I don�t like, sometimes it works pretty good, take a look around portfolios, you will see what I am talking about, regarding these highlights)

Regarding fill setting I used it a little too but not that often (if you aren�t going hard there shouldnt bring noise), I guess I go more on the exposure, contrast and recovery, try a few but don�t tweak to much (WB too lol)

never tried but remember watching it
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhk7z0rNCFI[/youtube]

dragging the sliders in the video to "fix" under-exposed images will bring out the noise in the dark areas and often lead to rejection. bracket your shots in the field. in studio tethered, watch your histogram and adjust lights and f/stop to create a healthy histogram without blown-out high lights or excessive shadows. best to get it right in camera than try to fix it later only to create new problems.