OK, i seriously don't want to flame, but there is so much garbage in this thread i read that it isn't funny....

1) Pandora isn't practical for some people. And downgrading to 1.50 then going through the whole process to get to 3.71 CFW isn't practical either.
2) 3.71 is easier to brick than 3.52 in my experience. I tried to downgrade from 3.71 M33 to 3.52 M33 and perma bricked my PSP; had to make a hardware-modded pandora battery to restore.
3) With the above said, I actually do agree that everyone on a compatible PSP uses a Pandora'd battery, with a MemoryStick patched with Booster's Multi IPL loader (and the sleep fix of course, which was very hard to find for me!)
4) 3.71 is currently better for theming in my opinion, simply because of the great thread "3.71 Offsets" here on EP. But the capabilities of 3.71 modding Vs. 3.52 modding cannot be summed up in one word, or even one sentance. There are many subtle differences.
5) If you want to give yourself a title of "true PSP power user", using 3.71 M33-4 is no question - you have to. Being leading-edge is an imperitive part of being a power user!

Just my thoughts. Feel free to criticise me :)