Dave Chapelle SUBSTITUTE!

well, not really...
but i am looking for a decent host for my site.
i know there is a resources forum but i am also aware that some people just do a quick google and post up links w/o any quality-control filtering the links posted.
so...i wonder if anyone has anything to recommend from personal experience, aside from media temple (which is the only one i know of so far that's "reputable" in my book).

I don't wanna sign up, then find out 2 weeks later someone is using my credit card to purchase rare barbie dolls off ebay. (no diss to the hobby lovers)

anywho...been thinking about dreamhost, but i guess that 2advanced one seemed okay too. i don't need anything dedicated, just something so i can put up the usual ho-hum sort of stuff. i'm tired of other places having accidents and losing all my shizzle, or no FTP, etc etc.

well, thanks

btw...i'm a n00b for these things, if i sign up for,say, mediatemple is it automatically my own name.com or do i have to do some other registration stuff seperate for that extent?

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btw...if patteman or anyone else knows...how did that illusionfx work out?

registerfly.com

itsyourdomain.com

deker recommended these to me, i went with supanames.co.uk cos i'm english and couldnt be bothered with a hassle of seeing an amount in $ go out of my account in £, confusion etc etc, supanames holding up well so far.
xxx

InsiderHosting.com

- A whole bunch of ppl (deker, marble....etc including myself) use them. No complaints!

Also your better off if you register your .com seperate. I use Dotster.com Its a few more $$ than others, but i think its worth it. No complaints here either.

As to

but i guess that 2advanced one seemed okay

I wouldnt go with them. I cant comment on there service (its probably good though....they seem to be great with the technical side of things) but i would avoid them probably cause you'll end up paying for the name (like designer clothing vs. Kmart) etc. Thats my opinion...i could be wrong.

Also go to webhostingtalk.com and surf that for a couple hours. You'll learn quite a bit.

MediaTemple and 2advanced are both waaaaaay overpriced in my opinion. You're paying for the pretty graphics on their site, rather than a service (which is obviously pretty good with mediatemple anyway).

Like rodder said, I use InsiderHosting and they are great. I have over 120 domains hosted with them, and have had no trouble at all. Help desk tickets are answered in less than 10 minutes, or you can chat with them on AIM. I pay only $35 a month to host all 120 domains with a reseller account. Or you can get one of their regular accounts and pay even less.

And like emptyspace said, I use www.itsyourdomain.com and www.registerfly.com for domain registrations. I've bought so many domains with itsyourdomain that they now only charge me $7.95 per domain, so they are a pretty great deal.

gearhost is another good one, i've hosted several clients' sites with them with no complaints.

chris