The Perfect Pellet

There's been some discussion about pellet quality of late (well, always I guess), and some interest by the pellet companys in providing a quality product to meet consumer needs. In the interest of getting the pellet company's product and our consumer expectation more in line, what makes for a perfect pellet? Let's base this within the objective real world, no nuclear pellets allowed. What are too many fines, dust? What is more heat or less heat? Is PFI's stamp important in your purchasing decision? Softwood/hardwood? Which way the smoke swirls in the exhaust pipe (sorry..)? Things like that....

I, for one, will never again purchase a bag of pellets that does not have the PFI stamp on it. I've only been able to find hardwood pellets here in Cincinnati, but would be interested in trying some softwood just for comparison's sake.
Another thing I learned is to never buy a large quantity of pellets w/o trying a few bags first.

what might be a perfect pellet for some, might not be for another. My stove seems to like short pellets. It burns better and throws more heat.