I'd agree that a good mix is probably the best.
I got my IR back in 06 when I was still renting Cessna's. I ended up with about 15 hours of actual during my training and not much after the rating. I did keep current for years just in case I ever needed it. I found that most of the time I just chose not to spend the money to rent on the crummy days. I let my currency finally go about half way through building my 7A and completed the build in 2011.
I always planned to do IFR in my RV but didn't make things happen till this year. I had some things to do to get my airplane certified and needed a lot of practice to get myself back in the game. And I needed an IPC. I pulled out my trusty KING IFR CD's, fired up my Microsoft Flight Sim, and started practicing in my RV with a safety pilot. I also got night current so I'd still have time to practice after work.
After about 4 months of all of the above I got my airplane certified and completed my IPC. Once I was good to go I couldn't find a cloud. On the days I was available to fly it was either raining hard or clear by the time I got to the airport after work. Kind of like when your driving all the street lights are red but if you're trying to fill out a bank deposit slip or something they're all green. That's exactly what it felt like.
Even without clouds I went ahead and tried to file some real world scenarios on airports I often fly to. I learned a lot just doing that. I know on longer trips the "preferred routes" in the AFD come into play but staying relatively local you really never know what you're going to get. I laugh about the "file what you want, fly what you get, and log what you need" saying cause it's so true at least around here. I also noticed that the controllers sometimes the ones behind. Stuff like sending you through the final approach course or forgetting to give you an approach clearance in a reasonable amount of time. In their defense it can be pretty busy at times around here and usually they're pretty good.
The last several weeks have been great for weather for IFR and I've managed to pick up 2 hours of actual. It's definitely a lot different and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous starting down into the clouds on an approach but it's sure rewarding and a lot of fun. IFR really is a well thought out system and its neat seeing it all come together again.
Ok back on the subject...
For me at this point in my hobby I think both hood time with a safety pilot and solo IMC is the best practice for me. My personal minimums are the low end of marginal VFR and I think that's just about right. I think that shooting a precision approach to minimums while partial panel is something I'd like to practice just below the clouds with a safety pilot. I'm confident I could do it in actual if necessary but why add the risk during practice. After all this whole flying thing is just for fun.
I know that weather can always change but if and when I actually need to fly a precision approach to minimums I will need to take a hard look at my planning and decision making process.