I am starting to agree with the clear pots idea more and more too...
if you're doing s/h culture, they're indispensible because you need to be able to see how full the reservoir is. you could use a dipstick or something, but that's a pain.
for "normal" culture they let you see the status of your roots and media without having to unpot, which is very nice. I wouldn't have had this little surprise if it were in a clear pot:
EWWW!!! rotting media! luckily the roots were ok...
I'd love to see the reasons other people like clear pots too...I'm sure I missed something!