you can access things from other countries that are only available to people from those countries - the vpn makes it appear you are there (whichever country you choose to appear to be in).
yes, it does make it slower for some things - but, you can switch it on or off depending on what you are doing - so for things here in Australia - it makes no difference at all.
You can check the speed difference by doing a speed test with it switched off and another with it switched on.
for me - if I have it off - my speed might be download 20 mps ---------- but, if it is switched on in say the UK - then the speed might be 3 or 4 or 5 - because the ping goes to where it thinks it is - maybe London or similar.
Very handy things.
One example of the use would be for Netflix (I don't have netflix personally) - many more movies are available for US customers than Aussies (it was that way weeks back - I assume it is still the same) -
so, with a VPN switched to show you are a yank - you get a bigger library.
