Need help before buying.

[ocalacomputerguy]

We (wife and I) have been debating over purchasing a pool kit
Wilbar Iris 15x30x54 $3466 (after shipping, tax)
Soft-touch injection molded radius resin pearl top rails.
5.5" steel verticals.
7" Resin top ledge
Confer Plastics Pool Ladder
Pool Skimmer
Start Up Chemical Kit
Mystri Gold Pool Liner
16" Waterway 1Hp Sand Filter System.

OR

Just the a pool w/o liner, pump etc. Wilbar Barbados 15x30x52 $2645 (after shipping, tax)
7-1/2" top ledge
6" uprights

We are leaning towards the pool only because we can pick out the equipment we want, however if the kit's contents is reasonably good then we would get it instead.

Needless to say I have a lot of questions.
I'm leaning towards a cartridge filter over a sand filter because of pore size. Is there a significant difference between them? Would it be just as effective to add DE to a sand filter? Last but not least what size filter do we need? Would these be good choices?

Hayward SP15922S Power-Flo Matrix Above-Ground Pump 2-Speed
Hayward S210T Pro Series 21-Inch Top-Mount Pool Sand Filter
Hayward 175 sq. ft. Star-Clear Plus Cartridge Filter

Does this pool need a second skimmer?

 

[BadOleRoss]

My pool is IG so I am not comparing apples to apples here but a 2nd skimmer would be nice but I don't think it is really needed in most cases. As far as the filters go, I have always used a sand filter on my pool and added DE to it with great results.