About Using General Hydroponics Setup..

I have a General Hydroponics hydro setup which I guess would be called a cross between NFT & aeroponics; it's the one with 2 long rails that hold 10 plants on each side.
What I was wondering is this: A friend told me he had really bad luck with NFT, although I've read about everything I can find about it and don't see why he did, but, should I have a problem using the setup like intended, what would be wrong with setting the water level in the rails real high, placing a timer on the water pump, and using this as a ebb & flow setup ?
I think it should work fine like this, but really see no reason why it won't work fine as intended, with a contant flow of water through the rails at a very, very shallow depth. I have a Hydror air pump in the tank to give the water a slight boost in oxygen level.
Anyway, any suggestions appreciated.