I am just trying to understand who needs them and basicly what are the benefits that you're after when you decide to go for VPS. Thank you.
you can have a choice. Cpanel DirectAdmin Interworx Webmin Servercp The later 2 might come free, and some vps providers let you have any cp free.
People mainly choose VPS/Dedicated because you have full control over whatever you do. It gives you root access meaning you can install whatever you want. It also means if there is a problem, You don't have to wait for someone else to fix it for you. Also, they have way more features than shared/reseller/master reseller hosting. VPS/Dedicated are mainly for people who have outgrown reseller hosting.
i went for a VPS from shared hosting before since i need more control, dedicated resources for my site since in shared hosting, my site was overloading the server. VPS/dedicated is best for the people who need more control and/or want to test things on a server.
You can also set up a mail server for sending emails. Here's a list of good value vps web hosting plans. Andrew
IMO, I think VPS is more suitable for those who had some experience with server management, and some Linux experience. If not so, managing a server is not so easy without a control panel. Though many VPS providers can give you a control panel, either free or extra, but need keep in mind, most control panels will eat you a lot of RAM resource. And those light-weight ones (e.g. Webmin), strictly, can not be called a full control panel.