Hi Wally,
When it comes to support, you only need it when you have problems with your hosting account... or you cant figure out how to make the scripts work or something like that (all of which should be covered in their manual or online tutorials). The truth is, phone support seems like a nice feature... but really the only time you use it is when your host isnt performing up to standards anyway. They wont answer web design questions, they wont train you on how to FTP or any of the other things - they'll just refer you back to the manual or tutorials.
If you still feel like phone support is a "must have", then by all means put that on your list of requirements.
As for the "top ten" lists - keep in mind that some of those may be affiliate sites, so the top ten may just be the ten that had the better affiliate programs. It really depends on which pages you looked at - but it's just something to keep in mind.
I've heard that HostGator.com and
http://www.1and1.com/ were both good hosting companies. You can always switch hosts, of course, so just
getting started may be the ideal thing for you right now - and down the line you will have a better idea of what you need and where you might get it (if you arent satisified with the first host).
Hope that helps