Quality of PDF for print as appose to EPS etc?

Hiya,
With regards to the best format to get artwork to print etc, creating a PDF certainly seems to be top dog. I was just wondering though if I should expect a reduction in image quality? I only say this because I've created a PDF from my AI file [press quality print, as the print shop hasn't specified anything else] and zooming in on the images on-screen shows a more 'pixelated' image then viewing at the same percentage on my AI file - if that makes sense!
My pics are quite small, so I'm confident the final print from the printers will be fine [they are also all 300dpi], but I was just wondering if a reduced on-screen quality [PDF viewed in Acrobat] is the norm, even with a 'press quality' PDF?
I've sent printers EPS's in the past, which seems to remain top-notch - what format do you guys prefer for your final print?
Cheers,

Sorry Bill, I should of made it clear that I'm not refering to any vector graphics in my artwork, just the 'placed' images/photos [which are TIFF's or JPEG's] and how my 'press quality' PDF appears to be of a lesser quality than viewing the AI file in Illustrator. I guess even though I've used 'press quality print' to save the artwork in AI, some compression does take place and my images become more pixelated?
Would a PDF, produced with these setting, be 'worse' than suppling the print shop with the AI document [either with the links embeded or not]?
Just wondered how you guys deal with image quality?

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