Yes. If you are a daily commuter, you should be buying the unlimited card anyway. If you live in NYC and just the subways frequently (as I do), then you just refill when you run out. Whether there is $2.45 or $0.00 when I run out and need to refill doesn't matter to me. No matter what I'm cursing at the train that invariably pulls in at the moment I run out of money and hustling to the nearest machine to refill hopefully before the train pulls away. Which is why I would never waste the time to enter a specific amount.
If you are a regular commuter, but don't ride enough to make the unlimited card work, there's an EasyPay MetroCard[1]. It refills automatically via credit card (and you get the 5% bonus) so you never have to use the machines.
