I had gotten tired of the jugs of liquid chlorine, also was concerned about the jugs in the landfill, and decided to start using cal-hypo or trichlor, and then just drain some of the water at the end of the season. My calcium level is also low enough I could use cal-hypo a long time without having to worry about scaling. With the cal-hypo, I sprinkled it onto the surface and then brushed afterwards. The tub said it was safe for vinyl pools to do that. I ended up with little white spots where I had put it in the pool. 
So I then put it in the skimmer. I found out quickly that small bits of cal-hypo can escape when you do that and I ended up with little white spots under the skimmer. I tried putting it into a skimmer sock. Did you know that cal-hypo can melt a skimmer sock?! 
This is tough stuff; tough to get it to dissolve, and you can't put it in a skimmer sock. Or maybe it was just because I had tied it shut into the skimmer sock so none of the small bits of cal-hypo could escape and bleach my pool anymore.... Anyway, the only way I can use it without my pool getting any more "freckles" is by putting it into a bucket of water and stirring the heck out of it. Pain in the butt. The only good thing I can see about cal-hypo is it's good to have some on hand because of it's long shelf life and if you run out of the liquid you can use it 'til you can get some more. Also if your calcium level is low enough it's good for shocking.
As far as the tri-chlor... A friend of mine had used an automated chlorinator for awhile and told me not to because when you open it to put more tablets in, the concentrated smell of the chlorine in the chlorinator is really strong! I still have the frog, not hooked up, and I know that you can use the bak-pacs without the minerals because the bak-pacs are high enough to hold them in place. Also you don't have the problem of the concentrated chlorine smell since the bak-pacs are the plastic things. But again, more plastic in the landfill, and the expense of using them! No frog for me! So I put tablets in the floater. And I discovered that it is impossible to get a good, steady amount of chlorine from those things! Windy days = more chlorine. Less windy = less chlorine. Also you have to keep your pump on a set amount of time each day, and I tend to vary it depending on the wind and the amount of Crud it blows in my pool (and also sometimes forget.) Not to mention as the tablets get smaller, they have less surface area and that seems to affect the amount of chlorine.
So I decided liquid chlorine for a while longer, at least, but am still planning on an SWG sometime in the future...
So I then put it in the skimmer. I found out quickly that small bits of cal-hypo can escape when you do that and I ended up with little white spots under the skimmer. I tried putting it into a skimmer sock. Did you know that cal-hypo can melt a skimmer sock?! This is tough stuff; tough to get it to dissolve, and you can't put it in a skimmer sock. Or maybe it was just because I had tied it shut into the skimmer sock so none of the small bits of cal-hypo could escape and bleach my pool anymore.... Anyway, the only way I can use it without my pool getting any more "freckles" is by putting it into a bucket of water and stirring the heck out of it. Pain in the butt. The only good thing I can see about cal-hypo is it's good to have some on hand because of it's long shelf life and if you run out of the liquid you can use it 'til you can get some more. Also if your calcium level is low enough it's good for shocking.As far as the tri-chlor... A friend of mine had used an automated chlorinator for awhile and told me not to because when you open it to put more tablets in, the concentrated smell of the chlorine in the chlorinator is really strong! I still have the frog, not hooked up, and I know that you can use the bak-pacs without the minerals because the bak-pacs are high enough to hold them in place. Also you don't have the problem of the concentrated chlorine smell since the bak-pacs are the plastic things. But again, more plastic in the landfill, and the expense of using them! No frog for me! So I put tablets in the floater. And I discovered that it is impossible to get a good, steady amount of chlorine from those things! Windy days = more chlorine. Less windy = less chlorine. Also you have to keep your pump on a set amount of time each day, and I tend to vary it depending on the wind and the amount of Crud it blows in my pool (and also sometimes forget.) Not to mention as the tablets get smaller, they have less surface area and that seems to affect the amount of chlorine.
So I decided liquid chlorine for a while longer, at least, but am still planning on an SWG sometime in the future...
Guess I'll just use the rest of that bucket of cal-hypo for shocking or when I run out of liquid (and stir it in a bucket 'till my arm wants to fall off before putting it in the pool.)