I have played on both PokerStars and Party Poker extensively, and overall I would wholeheartedly recommend PS over Party. Party does have worse players on average, but to me, it was tough to deal with the high variance (as Monk said) with a limited bankroll. The lowest NL games are .25/.5, which sounds like it's higher than what you are used to playing. The games are soft, but with all the maniacs, you are highly vulnerable to being outdrawn and losing a couple buyins here and there. It is extremely frustrating to deal with playing smart, tight poker and not seeing the results right away. You will get a better selection of low-limit and low-stakes NL games on Stars, and if you are into playing SnGs, Stars offers much better SnGs with more starting chips and slower blind escalation, allowing you to play for a good 50min or an hour. You should just start off by depositing 50-100 on Stars and if you lose it, then go from there.

I bought into PokerStars last night and played some limit Omaha8 and a MTT. I saw some catches I wasn't to crazy about. The same guy went all in twice. Once with 64 and once with KJ. Both times he cracked aces hitting a straight. He was not a playing a lot of hands like most manics pushing any 2 cards. I also saw a lot of AA vs KK vs AK.

Don't worry I am not one of those online poker is rigged guys. I just was not happy with some of the hands I saw. The O8 game was good and very beatable.