Personally, I wouldn't spend money on any Coralife product. Cheap crap. It breaks - A LOT. So of those two you listed, I would go with the pendants.
I have a 36" tank that I am figuring a lighting setup for as well. What I have decided on (unless someone changes my mind with info I haven't found yet...lol) is a single 400w XM 10K bulb (~$90) run by a PFO HQI ballast (~$215). This combination is one of the highest PAR ratings you can get. I'm going to put that bulb into a Lumenarc III reflector (~$160). The reflector is a pendant that is a huge 19x19", and fugly as hell, BUT it is better at evenly spreading the light across a larger area without losing as much PAR in the spread than any other reflector (that I've found).
I have researched my information from Sanjay's Reef Lighting:
http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/ As well, I've been doing a lot of searches on different forums, and come to the conclusion that this lighting combination should spread across the 36" length sufficiently. However, if you plan to keep a 100% SPS tank, then I doubt you could get away with one light. I have LPS that I can place on each side of the tank where the light isn't as strong, but will be quite sufficient for LPS.
What are your coral plans?