hey if it works for what you need it for then that's great.

The reason I don't go for proxy services like that is that they are browser based, usually restricted to standard http ports, and often unencrypted.

If you wish to use them for other applications (VOIP, gaming, file sharing, non-browser based email, etc) you'll need to configure each application individually and won't be guaranteed to work.
It may also come a cropper on web-based services that need plugins such as realplayer, quicktime etc because even though they appear to be in a browser they are making their connection through the 3rd party plugin which is not configured for the proxy.

That is where having something like a VPN comes into play because it sends all your internet traffic (regardless of which application you're using) through an encrypted connection which makes using stuff like the BBC iplayer (which has geolocation restrictions) run really smoothly.
It also seems to speed everything up (for sites outside China) because the GFW doesn't bother trying to inspect the data packets.

However, if all your internet traffic goes through one single web browser (ie firefox) and you don't use any plugins that use other applications then you're fine. Although I do find the extra speed I seem to get with VPN rather than a standard proxy very helpful. I can watch youtube videos on a China Telecom ADSL connection without needing to wait for the video to buffer.

Interesting article and discussion slightly related to this here:

www.danwei.org/tourism/should_foreigners_get_free_adm.php

:-) no i'm not a vpn salesman.

But like misseward I got tired of how slow and unreliable proxies are and have never looked back.

remember that unless a proxy uses SSL it will not be encrypted so even though you are going through a 3rd party server to view a site you are still allowing your ISP, and by extension the powers that be, to know where you've been. That doesn't happen with encrypted proxies or VPNs.

i remember hotmail being blocked around the 50th national day when i was in beijing in 1999. It seems to be routinely chosen for blocking. Its also diabolically slow. I can't recommend gmail enough.