Gauging user experiences regarding choice of broker when working with automated trading scripts

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, so excuse me if this post is inappropriate. If this post would be more appropriate on another thread, forum or website, then feel free to let me know.

Basically, I'm considering getting into automated trading and I'm reasonablly satisfied with the MetaTrader front-end. I've experience some shonky business in the past with my non-MetaTrader platform freezing around the time of key news events, and I've been baptised with fire with market-maker and dealer-desk shenanigans. So I'd like to gauge the experiences of members of this forum and hopefully receive some key pointers on how to choose a broker that's the most ethical for automated trading.

What are the pitfalls to watch out for?

Do you care to recommend any in particular, and why?

Are there any brokers or broker-practices that I should avoid?

to ECN or not to ECN?

which broker offers the best range of forex pairs as well as (commodities, stock-exchange, and volatility) indecies?

who would you trust with a couple of thousand dollars, and how easy is it to deposit/withdraw funds to/from your account?

Obviously I'm asking for a lot, but I don't expect anything, so just share what you'd like to share.

Thanks.