I found it really hepful for the PAR not so good with rolling out on PP but helped me fix it when i was AFU. Once they got rid of active mode it really was useless except for the heading. The thing would beep (sometimes) to tell you that something was there other times it would beep after the other air craft flew by. Then other times still it would never beep at all.
While everyone would love to have it back to the way it was, and while it's not as good as a TCAS, it's still saved my bacon a couple of times, even in the passive mode. If you're listening to the radios, a lot of time you know where to look when you get the hit. Something that's tough to do as a student when you're trying not to make the bad man in the back yell at you, but it's still a helpful tool, limited as it may be.