Popup behavior for dynamic layers vs feature layers

Is there a difference in how popups are handled for dynamic and feature layers? My dynamic layer popups perform much 'better' in the fact the features are easy to identify and the popups are displayed in order of the layers in the legend. when I use the feature layer to show popups, the features are much harder to click, and the layer(s) below my feature layer(which is the top one) show first. I have to use a feature layer so I can see related records in the attribute table widget....yea, they do not show otherwise..grrrr....

I want users to have an easy time selecting features for popup, and not have to turn off layers all the time to do something that is easy with a dynamic layer.

ideas? explanations? thanks!