I have about decided that it's time for me to have a web site -- maybe two web sites. I think I have identified the company I want to use for hosting. I have looked at several of the low-cost hosting services that come up in a web search, and it seems most (or all) of them are based in Russia (regardless of what they say), and tech support is only by e-mail. Reviews are less than spectacular.
The company I have found is based in Texas, has its servers in Dallas, has staff on site pretty much 24/7, and tech support is available by phone. Looks good.
My dilemma is choosing which level, or plan, to choose. They have a plan for $7.99/month for one site using BlueOnyx as the control panel. Then they have a plan for $11.99/month, also for one site, that uses cPanel for the control panel. The more expensive plan includes more storage space, but I'm highly unlikely to ever encounter a headroom issue even with the cheaper plan (I think). Here's their comparison page:
https://www.virtbiz.com/client/index.php?rp=/store/web-hostingDoes anyone know what the difference is between BlueOnyx and cPanel? Keep in mind that I'm a dummy when it comes to this stuff, so if cPanel is orders of magnitude easier to use, it might be worth paying 50% more (per site) to get it. That said, money is tight so if I can make the $7.99 plan work, then that's the one for me.