This is how I chose my GMAT prep course

I had a tough time selecting the right prep course for me and am sharing my experience so that other members can benefit from it.

First GMAT attempt - 650 (45Q, 34 V). - October - 2012

After this for about 7 months I didn't think about GMAT but in May 2013, I again started researching from scratch about preparation strategies, schools and prep courses. I had to to do some work in Quants but A LOT in verbal.
After some search I shortlisted e-gmat and Knewton, mostly because of strict budget constraints.
Here are the bullet points of what I experienced:
e-gmat
Pros

• Excellent reviews almost everywhere.
• The only prep course to give 4+ point increase guarantee only on verbal.
• A generous 7 day free trial which will give you an exact feel of their interface and lesson quality.
• Claims to be suited best for non-native speakers.
• A brilliantly simple interface. I watched sessions on a 512kbps connection and it went smoothly.
• The the concepts do get engraved in your mind after just one watching.
• Prompt reply to all your lesson related queries. There is a dedicated question forum link beside each lesson. Now although I didn't get reply for my course related queries, my query within the lesson forum was answered within 24 hrs.
• A lot of course choices, like one can choose just RC course or just CR or just SC and so on.
• They were upfront about their sessions running smoothly at lower internet speeds. This gave me some kind of assurance.

Cons

• No customer support number. Actually I couldn't find even a dedicated e-mail id for customer queries. One has to rely on forums. I posted some queries to Rajat's id and also to an administrator id but didn't get any reply. I did get a reply in a GMAT forum though.
• The money back guarantee seems vague and I don't know why. I mailed them a query regarding it, but didn't get a reply. Although I attribute this just to their carelessness in answering mails.
• I didn't know whether the missed live sessions would be available in some kind of archive. And even if they did, would watching them through archive still void the guarantee.
• Some bugs with the interface. For example, I completed a session from start to end, but the status was "In Progress".
• A couple of times the site wouldn't let me log in even after entering correct credentials. I am sure that I did not enter wrong credentials because I experienced this in two separate accounts.Ultimately I had to reset the password. Didn't face any issues after one reset though.

Knewton
Pros

• The biggest one is the clear-cut 50 point money back guarantee.
• Very economical compared to other courses.
• Excellent customer support. I sent them a mail and got my query resolved within hours. I posted in a forum, and again got my query resolved.
• I also think I saw a contact number somewhere in their website.
• Some people complained that their questions are just modified versions of OG questions. But isn't it actually good? We do want to practice OG like questions right?
• I also browsed through their website forum and found that many refund requests were successfully entertained, if the underlying criteria were met.

Cons

• Mostly average to positive reviews, but very less in number.
• No free trial. While some years ago they did provide this, I don't understand why they stopped it. The only possible explanation could be a lack of confidence in their own course. This is probably the only critical thing because of which I started having second thoughts.
• I also had apprehensions about the smoothness of video sessions because of my slow internet connection.

In the end I went with the Knewton prep course. I don't know whether the choice I made is based on irrational reasoning or not, but I do give some importance to gut feeling. If I do feel that I should have gone some other way, will get back to you later regarding this. Also I thought that if I don't see any improvement in verbal with Knewton, I would definitely go with e-gmat.