Website owners: who do you use for your hosting?

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I'm planning on starting a website for my small business but I'm a complete beginner and I don't really know much about hosting. I know how to buy a domain name, but that's it. Is there a big difference between the main players, like dreamhost, hostgator, etc.? Or are they all basically the same and I should just choose whoever has the best deals currently going on? I found some dreamhost promo codes ( http://dhrocks.com/ ) so I'm thinking I might just go with them. Is there a difference? Also, I heard that it's a bad idea to buy hosting from the same company that you buy your domain from. For example, someone told me if I buy my domain from godaddy that I should NOT buy hosting from them as well because that somehow puts me in a bad position if they decide to screw me over. Is there any truth to that? Ok, sorry this is so long. Thanks!