I'm certified on both. The Aspire is way cooler and way more expensive. It has 32 port station cards and can be remote maintenanced by simply forwarding a port through the router, just for appetizers. The programming layout is much easier than the elite. The newer IPK II is elite hardware with Aspire software.
CPU card for elite...$XXX
CPU card for Aspire...$XXXX
VM card for elite...$XXXX
VM card for Aspire (Intramail)...$XXX - snaps on to CPU card