fairoaksmom,
Both work equally well. Gunite has to be chipped out for the channel drain as well. I prefer splitting the drains. The repair is simple and no weak spot exists if done properly. Channel drains are a little more difficult to fit because the shape at the bottom of a residential pool tends to be more rounded, thus a long, flat drain can look a little odd even when properly installed. Should be 36" minimum between split drains.

Our refinishing contractor put in channel drains. He didn't ask and we didn't know that split drains were an option, but I like the look of the channel drains in our pool and spa. Our pool has a good-sized flat area at the lowest point with plenty of room for the channel drain.

I took some pictures of our drains.

Here is the one in the pool. The pool is ~ 17 feet wide where the drain is.

A picture to give you an idea of the shape of the pool. The drain is in the near end of the pool.

Here are the channel drains in the spa. There's a drain pipe for the spa filter returning over the falls, one feeding 3 of the jets and one that goes to the pool equipment because the heater is on that pump and returns through 3 jets so they needed two channels to cover them.:

For the pool, I think split or channel drains would have been fine, but for the spa, two round drains 3' apart might make the small floor area seem too broken up.

Cloud swift -- Thanks for the pictures - they really are worth a thousand words. The channel drain looks very nice. Your pool is beautiful. Is that Pebbletec, and what color?

Thank you Fairoaksmom. It's Wet Edge Pearl Matrix. The color is Mediterranean Magic (which is in the catalog that Burkett gave us but isn't in the on-line catalog. It is like the Black Magic except with more blue.

Are you in Fair Oaks, California or another Fair Oaks?