Hi Zeber
From what I've seen and heard, they do things different over there.
Most charge by the month, and they work out quite expensive.
Don't forget, they aren't geared up to .uk type addresses (which are MUCH cheaper). after all 99% of Americans don't relaise that there IS a world outside the good ol USA.
Host-plus's cheapest account is £19.99 per year. Take off the effect of the 6 months free and this costs £15.99 per year, plus VAT (I expect), which is £18.80, or £1.57 a month ($2.60).
I doubt you'll find a deal like this in the USA (don't forget most states in the USA have some tax to add too, typically up to 8%, and your credit card company will hammer you 3% on exchange rates and up to 3% to convert the currency).
Personally, I am going to go for the ILS package. Considering what's in it, it's fantastic VFM. It allows for 6gb monthly transfer and 10 free subdomains.
My advice is to get a more expensive package than you need. If you want to upgrade from a cheap package, you normally get stung for the whole package cost again.
For example, you register your domain (www.bonkers.co.uk) with your host for 2 years on the super value misers pack.
6 months down the line, you need to upgrade to the super pro geezers pack. They ignore the fact you have 18months left unused, and stitch you up for the full whack. They re-register your domain for another 2 years, coz it's the cheapest way to extend the registration. Let's say you pay £19.99 x 2 years plus VAT, that's £46.98, for 2 years, but you only use it for six months.
The new account costs £25.99 x 2 plus VAT, another £61.08. And you won't get any special intro offers. In HostPlus's case, the free 6 months adds to the end, so if you upgrade before then, you lose the free 6 months. Take the above example (not real!) you would end up paying £108.06 for 2yrs 6mths.
HostPlus ILS account is £49.99 x 2 plus VAT, £117.48, also for 2 yrs 6 mths. Not much more than a cheap package to start with, then upgrading (usually coz you need a feature, or you've exceeded your monthly bandwidth).
My advice? Don't buy a cheap deal, you will get frustrated and have to upgrade. You still won't get a good package, but you will have paid more than the mega package you could have taken from day one.
Trevor
