> If you can, then it is better.

That's the whole point of my comment, it isn't always better. I could have avoided any PMI by waiting a bit longer to amass more savings to have a larger down payment. But in doing so I would have avoided <$1,000 in PMI payments but increased the cost of the house by >$100k. It was definitely the better move to just pay the PMI in this case than to try and avoid it.

I'd gladly pay $1,000 to make something >$100,000 cheaper in the end.

Not necessarily. PMI removes risk for the lender so often that means a better rate. Also the bigger the loan the easier it is for them to make their fixed costs back. A lower down payment usually makes sense if you have the discipline to invest the difference and can tolerate some risk.