It really is best to try all methods.
I started out using nothing, graduated to Iodine tablets after a gawd-awful intestinal bout with something (never got a culture test so I don't know what), then to various MSR and Katahdyn filters, then to Platypus Gravity works, and then AM. And I also have a Steripen Classic 3 that I am now trying out. In a way, learning about water treatment methods is similar to learning about various kinds of stoves and becoming "fluent" with each kind of fuel. It is not wasted time, money or effort if you learn something from it, or if it prepares you to use a system you don't normally use.