>Can somebody supply some recommendations, with both advantages and disadvantages, about using DBCs?

IMO

Biggest free table advantage - simple application setup/installation and easy corruption recovery

Biggest free table disadvantage - short field names

Biggest DBC advantage - long field names and simple application setup/installation

Biggest DBC disadvantage - a corrupt table can be more difficult to recover.

Biggest SQL Server Express advantage - no corruption issues to speak of

Biggest SQL Server Express disadvantage - complex in terms of application setup/installation and overkill for single machine applications