My advice: don't overthink it. Pick the option that works best for your situation right now. Technology changes every 2-3 years anyway so nothing you choose today is permanent. The best technology is the one you actually use.

I posted this exact question on a newsgroup a while back and got a ton of helpful replies. Don't sleep on Usenet — comp.* groups are full of people who actually know what they're talking about, way more than some web forums full of script kiddies.

It depends a lot on your connection speed. If you're still on dial-up, some of this just isn't going to work well no matter what. Broadband makes a night-and-day difference. Is DSL or cable available in your area yet?

First thing I'd do is reboot and try again. Sounds dumb but you'd be amazed how many 'tech problems' fix themselves with a restart. If that doesn't work, write down the EXACT error message and search for it — somebody on Experts-Exchange or a Geocities help page has hit the same thing.