I agree that taking each vitamin/mineral separately is the best way to go about it as you can custom tailor it to your individual deficiencies. Also to much of certain vitamins will hinder absorption of others so that's another benefit with timing and synergy. But if you have a pretty diverse diet and eating enough different fruits and veggies this shouldn't be an issue since most of your micronutrient intake should already be taken care of through the whole foods. I've tracked my micro intake over a 2wk span and while not perfect, I was amazed to see how good it really was just from whole foods alone. I still take a multi to be on the safe side since there are times when my diet just doesn't cut it in regards to micronutrient intake. Have you looked at animal pak multi? I take those on training days and it comes in pre sealed paks with 11 pills (a lot I know) but it makes for better vitamin/mineral ratios since as you said often times manufacturers are forced to cram everything in 1-2 pills. It's also got a digestion complex, amino acids, antioxidants, etc. on non-training days I have orange triad (wanted to try it out) and that's 6 pills (all the same) with glucosamine, chondroitin, and msm (skeptical about how much joint help it'll provide since it seems underdosed). Animal pak is expensive and if you do the recommended dosage it will last you 3wks, another reason I got the orange triad, but you can find it cheaper online.