Well as to whether it is better written that is an opinion matter. However, it is not streamlined or cheaper. Pathfinder just using the "rulebooks line" is far more involved and complicated than D&D v3.5 ever was. It may have started as "house rules edition" or whatever they called it. But now it is totally a third edition version of Skills & Powers were you can trade out every racial feature and every class feature. It simply is not v3.5. So someone playing v3.5 who came to the game late would definitely prefer a v3.5 PHB over the not-compatible Pathfinder core rulebook. I have nothing against Pathfinder but I find the argument that it is "v3.5" ridiculous. It is not. It is a totally separate and advanced fork of v3.5.