Has anyone used this product? Is it true as they claim on their site http://www.dvfilm.com/maker/index.htm that converting to film is easier in normal mode than with frame mode? Is it a significant difference, or just good marketing? $95 seems awful cheap to convert normal to frame and have it turn out better than if shot natively.

No, I haven't tried this product but it looks like it would be easy enough for you to try it for yourself. They offer a demo version on that site. Have at it!

here's a link with some different ways ( tested - including DV filmmaker ) to get progressive ...

http://www.2-pop.com/article/mainv/0,7220,34614,00.html

I've not tried the program you mentioned, but it sounds similar to Re:Vision Effects Fieldskit-- http://www.revisionfx.com/rsfk.htm. It's a few bucks less, and has a lot of control. I'm not sure it's "better" than frame mode, but when I've compared footage it is remarkably close..there can be some aliasing around high contrast objects. Another thing to consider is that these smart de-interlacers can be quite slow, depending on how "smart" they are. I'd give the dvfilm Maker demo a shot and compare it with the frame mode and also Fieldskit...you may find that there is little difference between them most of the time....except for the time you spend rendering.