LnS
Good posting.
I agree that in a type you know well, you should be familiar with the procedures as to render a checklist superfluous, as you know the content and sequence very well and automatically run the checks.
In a type you don't know so well, you need to refer to the written version until familiar - i.e. you can recite any section as easily as the mnemonic for downwind checks.
The bigger issue for me a few years ago, when I regularly flew 172, PA28, PA28R, PA32, B121 and SA120 was remembering which a/c I was in and what to do in each.
These days I fly the B121 usually or PA28R, so life is much simpler.