I don't want to bombard people with advertisements on my website, so I use this page for links to products I use or recommend or both. Some links I can benefit from financially. However, I will tell you honestly how I feel about the particular product. I don't want to make any money by deceiving those who trust me.
1and1 is my web host. By clicking here, they will know that I referred you. They are based in Germany and have a pretty good market share in Europe apparently. It is the only host I have used, so I can't offer any educated comparisons. I have recieved a free 3 year hosting package because I acted before a deadline for their initial push into the U.S. market. The package is pretty darn good for free. Support is a little slow sometimes, but they seem to be getting better. The multi-page glossy ads in PC World? demonstrate that they are spending lots of advertising money to build up a solid base. Since websites can't move too easily they should be able to count on getting continuous paychecks once they sign up.
$5.99 domain names are about the cheapest I've seen. My only worry is that the cheap price cannot be sustained. But I think the competition is so fierce that there will be pressure on them to keep prices reasonable. I still have about 20 months on my free package and though I'm tempted to upgrade to get a couple small features, I'm still managing to hold out. Go ahead and click 1and1 and get the free package even if you won't use it much. Nothing to lose. I was always thinking about setting up a website, but couldn't decide on a package. This free package gave me the opportunity to learn on somebody elses dollar. I'm so glad I did. This package is so fully featured, I am able to try out many different web tools. So those of you who are wavering like I was, this is your perfect chance to try it out.
Make sure before you click you note the date so you don't get any automatic billing if you don't cancel. I don't think they do this because they are not a fly-by-night operation, but always be careful out there.