cheapest / best broker?

I use scottrade, $7 trades, no min requirements, no maint. fee...pretty solid and reliable

Are any of the online brokers less strict than scottrade as far as trading options... my banks account is pretty limited, but I don't see why I shouldn't be able to buy calls/puts and sell covered calls. Do I need to just lie about my income?

anybody recommends kingtrade or sharebuilder.com?

In terms of cheapest, you can't beat Zecco. Zecco charges absolutely nothing for 10 trades per month. If you're a real value investor and targets growth stocks, than chances are that you will be paying nothing for your online transactions.

With that said, I'd highly suggest against selecting a broker purely based on cost alone. For example, if you're planning to take on some leverage, you should consider the broker's margin accounts, especially its interest and margin call policies.

What about interactive brokers? I think they have really cheap trades (buck each or less) but there is a $10/mo fee.

zecco and tradeking are both good options.. i personally use tradeking.

regarding the options levels, i believe it will be the same anywhere you go.. not sure about lying about your income level, but it's not like they will check.

If you have >25K in Bank of America accounts, the BOFA brokerage is free for up to I believe 25 or 50 trades per month.