Hosting Comparison, seeking recommendations

[HumbleDeaths]

I'm looking to start blogging with wordpress so I'm shopping around for a host, wordpress recommends a few and i've sort of homed in on 2 options. I'm begging for feedback from any of you who have had experience with either, or another hosting company that you are very satisfied with, that runs wordpress. Thanks.

Blue Host $6.95
WordPress Auto-Install, 10 GB disk storage, FREE Domain Name, 2500 POP / WebMail addresses, 200 GB/mo transfer, Host 6 Domains on 1 Account, 20 Subdomains, 50 mySQL databases, Free Control Panel, Free Fantastico, 24/7 Network Monitoring, 99% Uptime Guarantee, Mirrored Storage Backups, No hidden fees, Voted Best Support in 2004.

DreamHost $7.95
WordPress auto-install and upgrade, 20GB disk storage, 1000GB bandwidth, free domain, unlimited databases, 3000 email accounts, unlimited domain forwarding, Jabber support.” Dreamhost supports mod_security.

[helgi]

I've been with Dreamhost for 3 years now and am very satisfied. I don't really have anything to compare them with, but it seems to me that they have an unusually good vibe about them. Good customer service and a generally nice attitude.

And now I will be the first to post a shameless referral link to Dreamhost

Although I think you actually get a better offer through a referral than otherwise, so it may not be entirely self serving. *ehm*

[Alex]

I use 1&1 and have had no problems so far. Here is a referral link as well.

[andrew]

I've heared horror stories of both companies. If you know what you're doing, and aren't doing anything critical, cheap hosting is fine. BUt once you're getting up there, you're going to want support and quality.

I would recommend eleven2 or mediatemple.

I've used both, e2 is cheap month to month, but mt is much more solid as is a much more established company.

[Alvin]

I'd suggest searching forum reviews for hosts, as performance can vary with the tides. When I signed up with Site5 (yes! shameless affiliate link! ) it was supposed to be the bomb, but ratings this past year have dropped especially after the fiasco with one of their servers being hacked.

But so far I've been happy with their service.

One suggestion is to look at their customer support reviews, having fast, prompt and useful customer support is very important and a potential lifesaver. Site5 is pretty prompt and helpful with theirs.

In any service, there'll be rave reviewers who've enjoyed great service and bad reviews from people who got the bad end of the stick. Let the buyer beware

[Sadhana]

I remember reading bad reviews about DreamHost. On the other hand, I never worked with it, so I can't give you first-hand opinion:

Google "I hate DreamHost" (332,000 results) and "I love DreamHost" (1,040,000 results) and you'll see plenty of results.

I highly recommend Media Temple. It costs more, but I've never had a single problem (that I couldn't solve in a couple of hours), and, for a change, your website isn't down half the time.

[Minsc]

I found this site: Dreamhost Sucks - A community and blog of current and former disgruntled Dreamhost customers
And this(the above in quotes): "I love dreamhost" - Google Search

[csl]

I use a few different hosts for my sites. The most reliable and professional service for me has been Hostgator.com.

Just keep in mind that certain content management systems require specific web server settings to be just so. Joomla is an example of this. So, it really depends on what you're running. Wordpress is pretty safe for most hosts.

Getting a good host in the beginning is everything.