I'm trying to find the most inexpensive way to ressurect this patio. Can I have sand or gravel put on top of the old pavers?

We are installing a patio and I can't find any info helping me decide between brands of concrete pavers. Most manufacturers have lines that all look very similar, so what I'm looking for is whether there's any real quality difference between these things. The main manufacturers we've looked at include Hanover and EP Henry.

I have a wet saw that is for tile but I am wondering if it would work for concrete paver without breaking the saw.

I am building a pergola on my patio. My patio happens to be above the underground garage and is therefore composed on reinforced concrete, waterproofing and most likely some layer of sand and then these 2'x2' concrete pavers. I can not see any other method of attaching the pergola post to the ground, other then screwing a metpost to the pavers to hold the post. So the question is. Is screwing and aluminum post box to pavers and acceptable method of holding the pergola steady?