When we had our pool installed in 2004, we had a choice of sand, cartridge, or DE. We didn't chose cartridge because of the cost of replacements and the maintenance required. DE filters particles finer than sand, so we chose DE. We've been very happy with our DE filter. There is some work to break it down and clean it at the end of the season, but during the season (early May to mid Oct. here) I usually only have to backwash it 1 time.

Hope this helps.