I have not had an SDR even 24 hours yet, but here are some random initial thoughts.
3 Yrs ago I contemplated a Flex radio and talked to a neighbour who owned one. He loved his, but warned my that they were very much a "work in progress" and not for someone who wanted a "has to do everything" box. I decided to put my hard earned cash in to a TS2000 instead. 3 years later, I have an inexpensive SDR receiver . I have concluded that they are still a work in progress, software is still being refined. Many things can't be done easily. However 2010 seems to be the year we can expect MAJOR improvements like Simon's SDR-Radio. While Simon's product is very much a work in progress, it is also a work of art ! Other software appears "geeky" and will scare people away. Simon's looks like a radio, and will make the rookie more at ease. After 24 hours, almost... I think I will conclude that seeing a whole bunch of spectrum at once is very useful but something you will lose interest in on average ham days, perhaps only when hunting a specific DXpdition will actually WATCHING the PC screen be something you want to do. To really get a lot of joy, you will want software that will do the "looking": for you and organize what is heard over several hundred Khz . Luckily this is available via CW Skimmer for the CW fanatic and via Multipsk for the digital enthusiast. I am not sure what you will want for SSB/phone signals. So, in my opinion, if you get a SDR ..figure on also owning CW Skimmer ( $75!) and Multipsk, Dm780 is likely to have significant interfacing with SDRs later in 2010,, Pleasantly, broadcast band "Dxing" and Utility "DXing" is a joy with an SDR. I don't think anyone has invented the equivalent of a CW Skimmer or RS ID-type station identification for broadcast bands, but I suspect it could be done if someone thought more about it (a digital ID broadcast by the station that software would pick up and display on a PC screen ? ) Interfacing SDR's with things like clusters and logging software is not as straight forward as it might seem... still refinements needed for this process. Eventually, perhaps now ...already, SDR display screens will be simply bandmaps with station callsigns . The gee-whiz spectrum analyzer type display will be a background item to show off when guests arrive, . Andy K3UK
