sta rite system 3 cardtidge as good as de?

[coryinsocal]

The system 3 is available as a cartidge, DE, cartridge/DE combination, and as a sand filter. Which one was he trying to sell you? Both the cartridge and the cartridge/DE units look very much alike. If he was talking about the cartridge/DE combo then it will filter as well as a DE since it is. All the filters in the line are called 'Modular Media' filters since they can be converted from one type to another by replacing the internals.

well, she just said "cardtridge" but it could have been the combo. the big point she was making was that i would not have to backwash it (or touch it for long periods of time for that matter). do you have to backwash the cartridge/de version?

***edit*** after looking throught the other owners manuals online, it must have been the cartridge only, as i know she did specify 300 square feet... unless it has a unique cartridge or element, i don't see another way of it being "as good as" the DE... any thoughts?