I never owned a raspberry PI because I heard many mix reviews on it from youtube, forums, blogs, and other sites, but the main culprit was the the speed and the low ram to do more hefty tasks.

But I heard great stuff for the new raspberry pi 2 which claims to be 6X faster due to the quad core architecture and 1GB of ram. AND, the best part is the price is the same as the original when it came out.

I think I'm ready to get one.

I have 3 original Model B's 512MB. They all have been great. The new Pi 2 is a drop in replacement, but it will need a new case if you use them. Mine arrived 1 week after the Pi 2 was announced. It took all of 2 hours to copy over the the image from the SDHC to the microSDHC card. Came right up. No problem and I was able to drop the powered USB hub as well. I am enjoying the new performance.

I think the Odroid C1 has the edge in terms of the specification to price ratio.

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php

I have a number of Pis. Great invention - I use them for coding, media centres and a bit torrent client. No plans to upgrade at the moment as I don't need the extra grunt.

One thing I will stress though is that the Pi brings an initial overhead in the shape of cables, external HDDs, powered USB hubs. But, the joy of upgrading is that all the peripherals just plug into place so no further expense.

WOW! you're making my decision more difficult to choose
That ondroid-c1 is indeed more beefed up and is the same price as RPI 2.

I've a Pi model B with no screen or input devices attached and use it primarily as an SSH server to access when I'm away from home. I also use it to host movies and the like and have a LedBorg showing the latest Cheerlights colour.
When I bought the Pi I had no illusions as to what it was capable of so I don't need to upgrade to a new B despite wanting one for the sake of it. Will I ever upgrade? Perhaps, if I decide I want to run a beefier server for something like VOIP or want something to attach to a screen for video playback.

Yeah, I had plans similar to yours when I get a RPI 2 or an ONDROID-C1. It is cheaper to leave the RPI2/ONDROID-C1 on 24/7 as appose to a desktop.

Indeed, it was the low power consumption which finally made me do it after wondering about it for a while. I don't use it all that often when I'm away from home but often enough that it's nice to have. I have tried to set up a VPN but either the instructions I found were confusing or I'm missing something (or both) but that's another story...
I have found the Pi more than powerful enough computing wise so I would expect the new one to handle things effortlessly.

I know what you mean. VPN servers are not easy to grasp at once. Sometimes you have to revisit the topic to understand it until it clicks in your head.

A VPN is great if you have many applications that accesses the web and you don't want to configure each application to go through a secure tunnel as you need to do with ssh. However, I still prefer to use ssh as a proxy/tunnel since it's easier.

The problem I had/have is to do with domains since my home machine doesn't have a DNS record and is technically on a dynamic IP address (it has only changed when I've changed the cable MODEM for faster speeds) and things like that -- meaning knowing what will and will not work for certificates is confusing. Ideally I'd like a VPN setup so I can interact with machines as if I were on the local network rather than SSHing into the Pi to SSH into my desktop.
Sorry for going off topic -- when I get chance to mess with VPN stuff again, and now I have a Linux laptop, I'll start a thread.

@ 273

You could use something like a dynamic DNS service if your ISP assigns you a dynamic IP address. There are free and paid services out there. This one is free from http://www.noip.com/free

I don't have much advice on VPNs, it's certificates and DNS Bind as they are complex subjects, but if I were to go the VPN route I would buy a monthly VPN service and just configure the VPN client. The only caveat to this is you have to stay within the monthly bandwidth of your plan. I guess this is why people would rather have there own VPN setup at home i.e no bandwidth limitations.

I do agree it worth to learn VPN server setups and even DNS bind even if it takes some time and practice.

The lack of DNS isn't, as such, the problem as I do know of dynamic services -- the problem is the tutorials seem to assume that the VPN is being set up for a domain on the internet and not simply a home IP.
I specifically want to use my Pi not because of bandwidth but because I actually want a VPN to my home network for myself and friends. It wouldn't be for bandwidth reasons or having an IP address in the right place -- just so that if I'm in a hotel or at a friend's I can check my email and access my desktop PC securely.

I understand now. I guess a dedicated thread on your situation as your said earlier is what you need. I wish I knew enough about the subject to help you out :-[

It's a project I hope to be working on soon -- ironically not at the moment as I'll not be home next weekend.
Back on topic, the Pi lends itself to this kind of thing because it costs so little and runs a real Linux.
Oh, and I love Cheerlights on the LedBorg in my PiBow Timber case. That I can type such fun (to me at least) things when talking about such a cheap piece of electronics makes me happy -- so many things in computing end up being about what is "faster" or more "cutting edge" and I love that the Pis are about just using them.
(I still want a Pi 2, I can't lie)

I have a few PI's as well as a couple Beaglebone Black's. I already have received one B 2, and am planning on using it for Kodi/Openelec media center. I might upgrade or get two more, for things like Kali and VPN learning purposes and hand off some of my other ones to my father, who has zapped some of his (they don't like static).
My other option (and since I still have a version 1, 256mb model B), would be to set them up in a cluster, just to learn that.
I can see the benefit on some things in actual use, but less of it, in educational purposes, when not in a classroom (compiling) setting.