They are particularly handy when taking your car into be inspected for tag renewal ... in those states where they plug into the car and read codes or fail you if your check engine light is on, you can erase the codes and turn off the light while you wait in line for inspection. LOL
My MINI is very modified and the O2 sensor throws a code about once a month due to the exhaust mods and new location of the second sensor. They still work fine and the car runs strong, but the DMV would fail it if the light was on and code still stored when they plugged into it during inspection. So I just keep a small version of the reader in the car so I can erase the code and turn off the light when it comes on. The basic readers only cost around $15-20 at Harbor Freight, worth every penny to have handy.
Most codes are standardized for all makes and models with differences only being for things that are unique to the car. The readers come with a booklet that has lists of the standard codes and will tell you what the codes mean. An example would be that all secondary ignition trouble codes begin with P03--, a P0301 would indicate a miss in cylinder #1, P0302 in cyl #2 ... etc.. (some simply list P301, P302 etc..)