It's difficult to give an accurate advice without knowing your background. ECSA is as theoretical as CEH and personally I didn't learn anything new from ECSA/LPT. OSCP is very hands-on and a great intro to pentesting.

If you are new to all this and have little to no experience, you might want to start with eLearnSecurity. I haven't taken their course myself, but some here at EHN have and might be able to answer specific questions about it, if you have any. You can find Jason's review here.

I did a short write-up some time ago for JTR@Ubuntu 10.10 using a hexa-core cpu, see here.

Check also Adrian's Password Exploitation Class.

Besides GREM take a look at CREA.

Your best chances to get into the reversing field is in the anti-malware industry. If you have already experience in reversing (can reverse/unpack/analyze common packers/crypters, know the PE structure, are familiar with standard tools like IDA Pro, Zynamics BinDiff, OllyDbg, etc.) it shouldn't be too hard to get at least a junior position, even without a degree.

It seemed to me that it's not a new course, "just" the Metasploit Unleashed course which is already available for quite a while. Although it has a new design and some new additions. It's a great resource, especially for those new to the MSF.

Btw, the syllabus for AWAE is available here.

The syllabus for AWE is available here.
The syllabus for AWAE is available here.

While looking through the Black Hat page, I came across the Social Engineering Pentest Professional (SEPP) course/certification.

Anyone planning to attend it?

Offensive Security finally added an accompanying certification to their Advanced Windows Exploitation (AWE) course, called Offensive Security Exploitation Expert (OSEE).

More info is available here and here.

Together with their new web interface, OS also launched a new course and certification, called Advanced Web Attacks and Exploitation (AWAE)/ Offensive Security Web Expert (OSWE)!

More info is available at their site.

I recently finished Offensive Security's PWB course and the associated OSCP examination. My full review is available at my site, see here.

Thanks Kris, that's all I wanted to know.

For the ones who have already completed the course - how long did it take you approximately to go through the material and the exercises?

You should send your results directly to IACRB, see here.

Yes, the retake will cost you only $60. No need to buy a lab extension. Although if you haven't got all machines in the lab and failed the exam, it might be worth to extend your lab time for 15 or 30 days.

If you fail the exam, you can retake it without the need to buy course time again.

This will certainly make a nice delayed Christmas present.