I think they are easier to maintain, myself.

My 55 gal viv has one and I love it. My 29 and 10 gal's do not and they take more maintenance.

It depends on what you are going to do with it. If you're going to build a fancy viv, I'd say yes. If you're just going to have a small tank and don't mind changing out your substrate every 4-6 weeks, then it doesn't matter. I just change my surface substrate in my 55, which takes only a few minutes.