Boys and girls, a few things:
First, don't bother with EAS or Prolab, both cheap out on their formulas. One of the few places that still exercise truth in labeling is Proteinfactory.com. That's where you're going to find a better deal on a higher quality formula, customized to your preferences.....and heavily recommended by the hardcore scene. Proteinfactory is a blender, one of the companies that EAS, Weider, Ultimate, etc. contract to mix, label, and ship their formulas (none of those companies actually MAKE the powders they sell). They have some pretty good Deals of the Month also. The best part besides the ability to order the mix you want, and the flavor, are the sweetening options (you can also get Stevia, Sucralose, etc.).
As for the rest of my rant:
1. Most of the supplement industry is full of crap. Look at all the companies that sell "protein" bars filled with hydrolyzed collagen, which is a totally useless incomplete protein (digest of things like cow hooves, bones, connective tissue), glycerin (not very useful either, but is synthetic and allows you to claim "low carb" - but due to FDA fines they cant do that anymore), and so forth. Unless you know what you're looking at you have been ripped off by the supplement hype machine at one point or another. Oh and by the way ecdysterone products (EcdyMax for ex.) are crap also, clinically proven to be a waste of time unless you are an insect, and marketed based on bad decades-old russian studies that have long since been proven worthless.
2. Prohormones are a waste of money. Yes. Ignore what the guys at the gym say, and what the supplement companies say, and the fancy ads in the magazines. They do not work. Despite scores of clinical studies to the contrary, some people still hold on to their Andro and Norandro stacks with a death grip - face it, you have been scammed again by hype, just like back in the day with dibencozide, or FRAC, or beta-sitosterol, or plant sterols etc etc. No company has ANY need to verify ANY claim that they make - that is why they all have disclaimers.
3. Simple tips - if you're buying protein powders, look for ones where the primary proteins are high quality (e.g. ion-exchange, CFM, etc.) and NOT lower quality. Most co's wrap a "proprietary" label around their proteins so there's no way for you to tell how much of the good stuff vs crap you are paying for in your protein. Also when buying protein bars, stay away from any that use collagen (e.g. MetRX Pure Protein is a good example) since it is a useless protein used as a cost cutting measure.
*****If you want to make gains you must eat, rest, and train with equal amounts of dedication... with your eating MACRONUTRIENTS (e.g. carbs, proteins, fats) are the key, not "miracle" supplements like Andro or whatever the flavor of the month is. The most important thing is to fuel your body with enough quality real food. This means lean meats, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, etc. Macronutrient supplementation (carb, protein) should be used as a supplement to a good diet, not as a replacement.
ALSO: If you are any kind of real athlete, do not bother with hype-driven low/no-carb diets. Unfortunately they have no basis in sport science, and there is a reason why they are relegated to fad diet books from people with no background in nutrition (e.g. Robert Atkins is a cardiologist with zero accreditation or clinical coursework in nutrition) and not in the training diets of Olympic athletes.
Fact of the matter is that your body is designed around carbs as fuel. Carbs are not the enemy, total caloric intake is. If you cut out quality complex carb intake you will directly knock your athletic performance into the crapper when it comes to sustained peak output. You will crash sooner, hit the wall faster, and generally be able to sustain less intensity. They also have a protein-sparing effect that helps prevent catabolism (protein/muscle breakdown). At least half of your calories should be carbs, esp. in the form of quality complex carbs, whole grains, legumes, etc. There are NO "miracle" fad diets - they all work off of some form of caloric restriction and that is all. Low carb diets give an initial false positive because glycogen depletion also takes water with it, hence the rapid initial 10lb weight loss (water and glycogen but not fat). Regardless they are of little use to an athlete seeking to maximize his gains from his workouts, and wanting to be able to perform at his peak.