Hosting Package:  

Lunarpages pricing is the best we've found. Ecommerce hosting requires a SSL secure certificate, password-protected directories, some form of payment processing, and shopping cart software.  They charge extra for a SSL certificate, and works with Paymerica for credit card processing, also at added cost. Password protection is free, as is your choice of three shopping cart systems in Cube Cart, OS Commerce Cart, and Zen Cart.  They offer standard programming support with CGI, Perl, PHP, Python, and Server Side Includes (SSI). You can purchase JSP and ASP support if you need it.

FrontPage extensions and MySQL databases are supported, as well as Flash and Shockwave. Streaming video and audio can be done with Real Audio/Video, but other formats cost extra due to the need for a static IP address.  Lunarpages gives you 5 POP3 and SMTP email accounts, along with webmail, email forwarding, catch-all emails and auto responders.  Spam protection is also included, and mailing lists are supported as well.

Ease of Use:  

During the time we tested out Lunarpages, we didn't run into many things that we had a hard time figuring out.  However, when we did have issues with some of their features, their help section and customer service were less than helpful in resolving them.  These were minor infractions that were few and far between.  As a whole, what Lunarpages has to offer is definitely user friendly.

Support and Service:  

Lunarpages support is among the best around, offering toll-free, 24/7 phone support with a clearly posted support number on their site. Email support is also 24/7, and you can also access video tutorials, post your problems/solutions in their forums, or browse their FAQ section and knowledgebase.

Site Creation Tools:  

You can turn your website into a blog or add a guestbook or image gallery with Lunarpages.  Outside of these features, they have no site creation tools to speak of.

Server Access:  

With the Starter Plan, you get access to only one FTP account.  However, if you upgrade to the Basic Hosting Plan, that number goes up to unlimited.  You're also given SSH access, but not .htaccess or anonymous FTP.

Marketing Tools:  

Lunarpages offers vouchers for Facebook Ads and Google AdWords.

Reporting and Statistics:  

Lunarpages includes something called "Online User Statistics" with every plan, but they don't explain exactly what that entails.

Lunarpages does everything and does it well-all for a very reasonable price. With a 30-day money-back guarantee there's plenty of time to get your site up and running, and find out whether Lunarpages is a good fit for your needs.  It's hard to find a better web hosting service that meets your needs as well as they do and charges very little every month.  The price difference between the Starter Plan and the more elaborate plans is low, so you can move to a plan with more features when you outgrow the first one.  You will never be disappointed with them.  As far as their bad reputation goes, it's undeserved.