I hang around a lot of high end pro detailers and am in pretty tight with the whole group at Meguiar's. While I'm a big fan of Meguiar's products, especially their professional line, I know each individual has their preferences. What I will recommend is this: if you choose a polish/wax vendor who also offers a line of pads, use those pads. Not all pads and polishes work together the same way and you'll often find that a different technique is needed when using different chemical/pad combinations.

For example: Meguiar's M80 on a yellow Meguiar's polishing pad works best with the PC7424 set at speed 5 and enough downward pressure to almost stop the pad from rotating. Prima Swirl on a Lake Country pad works best using very light pressure on the pad, and it actually works better with the Lake Country pad than with the Meguiar's pad. Also be aware that there is no color standard for cutting, polishing and finishing pads. On some forums you'll see someone tell you to use a black pad, or a yellow pad, or orange, etc for a given situation. Without knowing who's (insert color here) pad they're talking about you don't always know if they mean cutting or polishing.

Oh, one last tip: stay away from cutting pads when using a 7424 as they can tend to haze the paint. While this is easily correctable with another pass using a polishing pad, it tends to freak people out. Take your time and always start with the least aggressive polish/pad combination that will do the job.