**I'd like to share a thing that's bugging me for a while now** Let's say I've got just two sites, one is PR5 on the homepage, PR4 on most of the 'real' pages. I created a new site, ofcourse no pagerank. I put up a link on ALL pages of the pr5 site (400k links in google). I do no active link swapping or anything else, just sit and wait. after the first toolbar PR update the new site gets PR4, which it still has today (1 update as far as I can tell) I've got another (3rd) site, no links from this PR5 site, I link my ass off with other (related and unrelated) sites and get a PR3 after the last update. So you PR-lovers, what's the trick? Can a link from just one site (even if this link is put on 400.000 pages) beat 500 links from all kinds of sites? Or should I wait for another PR update and see if this site also gets a PR4 ?
Yes it can - exactly the same thing has happened to me before. I have two PR5 sites, and when creating a new site I did a sitewide link from both and the new site became PR4 on the first update. I also have another site (launched 2001), which is linked to from at least one hundred different domains, in addition to some sitewides on some of my smaller sites, and it's currently a lowly PR2.
I reckon it depends on the number of outbound links on the page that is linking to you. If the page that links to you has many other outbound links then it will pass less PR to your site. Your PR5 site might be stronger than hundreds of average PR sites linking to you. I believe a single link from a PR6 site can give you a strong PR4