Thanks for all the replies. I typically do cook to a degree, like say, sauteeing a little garlic or a jalapeno or whatever before adding water to boil for couscous or ramen or something. But mostly my meals are just boil water and and make a soup (I hate having to scrub a pot)
I have a cheap 2 quart aluminum pot that works fine enough for shorter trips, but I'm doing the JMT and really need to shrink my weight. Plus I can see that a bigger pot, of any material, is going to take longer to heat up. I'm thinking maybe I need about a 1.3 liter pot (there are 2 of us), and if I'm gonna buy one, I might as well get the optimal one. Sounds like maybe I should go ahead and get a titanium one. Though I notice that some titaniums are a lot thicker and heavier than others.
Yeah, I notice that a lot of REI employees know less than I do. The annoying thing is when they are also good at bs-ing you into THINKING they know more than you do.Some are great, though. Maybe I'll go work for REI when I retire:)