I've been shopping for a new web host. I am confused about the bandwidth history of my current host. What is the difference between incoming and outgoing traffic? Last month my incoming traffic was 53.45 GB and my outgoing was 4.70 GB.

When I get a new host, what's wrong with shared hosting? Why do people pay extra for dedicated? Is it just if you have web applications that require processing power?

is media temple's gs a good option?

when dreamhost or hostmonster seem to offer more for less?

I'm hosting mainly static pages with some PHP 4, and using osCommerce. currently paying $150/month for dedicated hosting seems like too much.

Can anyone recommend the best hosting plan/company for me?

First things first I would avoid Dreamhost and Hostmonster (or any such company for that matter) since they are serious oversellers. Another disadvantage is that such huge companies don't care if a customer isn't satisfied, they have enough customers and you're just a small fish in the sea.

Also, please be aware that websites such as hostingplanscomparison.com and getawebpage.net are often manipulated: the 'best' hosting companies on such websites are listed like that because they simply pay more than other companies for the advertising on that website.

Don't listen to Sahil either. There's no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. Any provider offering this is are scammers. Hosting providers have to pay for bandwidth, obviously they aren't going to sell more than they can afford. Once you start consuming too much they'll suspend your account without any warnings. Been there, done that. GoDaddy does the same.