Click here: http://www.northstandchat.com/forumdisplay.php?20-The-Big-Board&styleid=8 to make it a lot nicer.
(I don't promise that this will be around forever, or not ad-free anyway)
I'd say there is limited benefit on a tablet, although I know many do use it.
It is of far more benefit on a phone though as it saves you from having to do a lot of scrolling and zooming and eliminates the issue of tapping on the wrong thing. I never use anything other than Tapatalk when...