Personally, I think it's a case by case basis. A blank page with a link on it is just ridonkulous and you know it, I know and those who just kid themselves must surely deep down know it.

The real question is, how smart are the search engines.

My answer - VERY! They are created by intelligent people and they are getting better. What value does a page with no words have? None, zilch,zip,nada.

Words per link count!

Words per page count!

Then and only then can the PR enter the equation.