I think your taking GaryP's advice all wrong (unless I'm wrong). It's not about one setup being better than the other. It's whats best for the job at hand. If I asked what vehicle is best... some would say porsche, lamborgini, etc... thats great unless you need a vehicle to haul rocks then you would have a $250,000 car that can't haul rocks worth a crap.

Different envronments have different needs... the tank your talking about sounds to me like the basic reef that many of us began with. No SPS, a few LPS, lots of mushrooms and zoos, a few fish and other inverts. If thats the case then get yourself a nice sump, fuge, fill the tank with LR and LS add the biggest skimmer you can, pop on some PC or T5 lighting and maybe a few powerheads or a Tunze and your pretty well set up.

If you go to the lfs and see a morish idol and Purple Tipped Acropora and you just gotta have em' then thats a whole different thing all together.

anyway... its a really good idea to go to the store and/or search on line for the types of animals your going to buy in the future, then design around their needs. I know thats not as much fun as just doing it, but the reason all these experts say to do it that way is because of their own experiences. Just remember that you will be locked into the type of tank you start, so start smart