Okay, so I've had this direct drive trainer for a couple of weeks now, and spent maybe 4 hours on it.
I got this because I didn't want to wear out tires and wheels, and, being a newb, I don't have spare wheels to swap out when I need to use the trainer. Plus, I had been using a borrowed fluid trainer that made my drive-train sound like it was about to explode. Probably operator error. Rather than get a cheap sturdy wheel and tire to swap out, I spent the money on the trainer, finding an eBay deal ($50 off and free shipping) that saved me about $70 on a new unit.
My initial impressions are:
A. It is easy to use. It is much easier to mount the bike on the trainer than it is to put a wheel on your bike, because, well, there is no wheel getting in the way. Pretty quick transition.
B. It is much more 'realistic' than the fluid trainer. Resistance wise, it feels pretty much like you are riding, and you can stand up all you want. It takes awhile for the flywheel to slow down, just like it takes your bike awhile to slow down when you stop peddling. A review I read shows graphs where it matches a bicycle on the road very closely, and so far I believe those claims.
C. It uses a fan to add resistance, and the fan gets loud when you are working hard. If you are working with a DVD, you need to crank the volume up to hear it. I'm considering rigging earbuds, because the way it is now, doing an early morning session while everyone is sleeping would create somewhat-more-than-mild resentment in the household.
I have very little experience with other trainers for comparison, but so far, I consider it a good choice.