$15 for 3 months ($5/month)
$35 for 1 year ($3/month)
$60 for 2 Year($2.50/month)

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/christmas-2015

Now I know

If I do decide on a VPN I will certainly put PIA at the top of the list

Should I expect a significant drop in download speed with a VPN. I've tried two and my maximum speed was reduced to a quarter of my potential speed, 100Mb/s.

You say you get 4MB/s (32Mb/s) - is that your normal speed without a VPN?

PS I have a friend who uses PIA and he is very happy with it

Sure, definitely expect the use of a proxy/VPN will significantly slow max capacity down to about 15-25% max capacity.

I too have the 100Mb/s internet connectivity, so with PIA, I have a reduction to about 35% capacity on average.  At times I can get a torrent DL speed up to 7-8MB/s with PIA, so preservation of 50-60% of max capacity, but this depends on seeding sources.  Bottom line, it's the highest I've seen of any VPN and am so impressed with the strength of the connection - no failures to remain connected.  Great, consistent service.

You say you get 4MB/s (32Mb/s) - is that your normal speed without a VPN?

PS I have a friend who uses PIA and he is very happy with it

Huge selection of access points across the globe and growing (several hundreds of IPs utilized).  $40 annual fee that includes coverage for up to 5 devices/computers.  Ability to sign up anonymously using bitcoin or a wide variety of store gift cards.  Super-easy setup with adjustable encryption levels for data encryption, data authentication and handshake protocols.  Includes built in IPv6 leak protection, DNS leak protection, VPN Kill switch and supports port forwarding.  Speeds are better than other VPNs with DL speeds of up to 4MB/s and UL speeds up to 2MB/s.  Extremely stable connection that does not fluctuate on and off like other services.

Many of our staff have used this service for several years with ZERO security leaks from our individual torrent activities.  Personally, I've used it for 3 years.  Phenomenal service for the best price.

I use it to log onto sites that are blocked by my ISP (UK court order), grab the torrent(s) I want. I then quit hide.me and download torrents as I usually do.

PS have just tried the hide.me proxy and it works. I might not bother to renew my free plan

All I'm saying here is that you need to be careful when using the free Hola. Also, Hola will only act as a method of proxy for certain websites only. Unlike a regular full VPN, Hola does not tunnel all your internet traffic through the VPN by default. This can only be done if you pay the $5 USD per month for the paid version of Hola and use their full PPTP or L2TP VPN services, which are not part of the free browser button.

I installed a free VPN yesterday and it does exactly what I want - allows me access to sites like demonoid and torrentday which are blocked by my ISP (in UK) after a court order.

I wasn't looking for security

with a VPN a proper paid version you add a screendoor and also blinds to your window , making it harder for people " MPAA governments etc , to peep inside , they can  if they want , still find you ,but as for copyright its not worth their time . but 100% anon and off the grid  , thats just not something any vpn can do let alone a free one  .

https://www.goldenfrog.com/take-back-your-internet/articles/7-myths-about-vpn-logging-and-anonymity

I've tried one, but it plus my oldish equipment made it too annoying to use. But on that score, have you looked at Tribler as a torrent handler?

no would you recommend it ? i