I have one with an 8" Nils. I really like it. I can keep the auger out away from my body and hold the clam plate easliy with both hands. When done, the drill motor is usually up out of the snow since it's in the plate and rests above the ice. I used to drill without the plate and just hold my drill, but now I feel like I have more control with holding the handles and keeping the auger out away from my body. For me, the investment was well worth it.
Last night, I took it one step further and put one of the improved-style Clam gear boxes on it that I just ordered. It's the first time that I've had a gear box on it, and since I just put it on, I haven't used it on the ice yet.
When I would run the drill without the gearbox attached and hold it out away from me such as when putting my drill motor back on the plate and testing it in the house, the yellow Cold Snap protective blade cover would fly off when I would stop operating the drill. Without the gearbox, it had a noticeable start and stop moment to it. Operating with the gear box attached inline didn't result in a hard stop at all and the cover didn't fly off after multiple attempts. Instead, it seemed much smoother. I'm liking the addition of the gearbox already. I can't wait to drill some holes with this modified setup.