By “deciding factor” I mean which feature/quality of a host made you choose them. Price, scripting requirements, support options, reputation, etc. ?
When choosing my last VPS provider, I was stuck between a handful different hosting companies all with similar price ranges and features. I searched through oodles of forum posts gathering customer reviews, asked webmaster friends for their recommendations, tested download times, etc.
I also prefer to pay by PayPal ( I still love DreamHost, but this is a good reason not to have a CC hooked up to your account. ) — so I only hosts that accept PayPal.
After all this, I was still left with a couple of choices — but then lucked out (working on this site helps) and found a good promo running for one of the hosts. So, my deciding factor was a coupon. I guess I just like to feel that I got a good deal 🙂
So, what was your deciding factor when you chose your host?