Glueball -
There's every need for applying brakes as soon as possible on a runway where field length is an issue, and you don't need to be a cadet pilot to practice that. Rightly or wrongly, or naively if you like, my technique is always to use an autobrake setting appropriate to the stopping distance available in the QRH; which is usually Autobrake 1 on "long" runways but Autobrake 3 at my base airport (less than 2000m LDA). The initial autobrake application is a damned sight more balanced than I could muster, and I prefer to disarm it using manual braking during the rollout.
Incidentally, manipulating the autobrake selector during the landing roll is a no-no now for us. This is to recognise the manufacturer's Bulletin which addressed some problems experienced by other operators where their pilots were attempting to deselect the autobrake to OFF but inadvertently rotated the switch to RTO with some rather abrupt results.
In any case, my company SOP is to use autobrake when serviceable, so it's a no-brainer. To step outside this SOP would require a valid safety reason which rarely presents itself. Reading between the lines, I can't help thinking there have been some posts on this thread inferring that to use autobrake shows a lack of initiative, or one that is being unnecessarily harsh to the braking system. The argument of reversers vs brakes on non-limiting runways is an old one, and I am sure every company has an opinion of which to manipulate moreso than the other.
To digress, one poster mentions he stows the reversers at 60kts. After 80kts, I tend to reduce them to idle until a lower speed than 60kts, not least to avoid hydraulic lock in the sleeves of the NGs to meet the "at least ten seconds of use" rule of thumb. Perhaps this is my bad habit? When do the rest of you stow them, out of interest?