Can someone please outline the differences in the 3 and maybe recommend some hosts/accounts for my needs? (No hosting offers please)

My current needs are::

I need a fast server that can handle up to 50 users at a time on a forum and online store (essential).

My current disk usage is 750mb, and expanding

Bandwidth 30G/month & increasing monthly

I need a reliable host and one that is managed as I know nothing about server admin.

Budget $50-$80 US/month

I think a reseller would suit you just fine at the moment. If you ever outgrow the reseller plans of the host you choose, you should look into managed dedicated, but it doesn't look like you need to go there anytime soon.

Check the shared offers forum. Many of them offer reseller plans. There are many promotions being run now.

You could also try going dedicated with Server Matrix.

EDIT - check that. I missed the part about you not knowing serer admin stuff.

In my opinion, I would not go with a dedicated server yet. There are lots of web hosting/resellers offering decent bandwidth and space. Most of the resellers that post on this site are very reliable.

You could also attempt a VDS/VPS, but if you use a lot of CPU or memory, you could run into problems. Most VDS/VPS that let you have high CPU & Memory usage cost about the same as a cheap dedicated server. Then again I may be wrong. Rus from vpscolo.com may have the answer for you in that regards.

Overall, it's probably best to stick with a good reseller account.

Pookster :eek: