I know this is old now, but I went through the same old starter, no starter forum stuff when I was venturing out to try some liquids not all that long ago.
You do need to check your dates, especially on liquid yeasts. Having said that, and if you can get it fresh from the homebrew store, you do not need a starter for 5-gallon batches below 1.060. If in doubt, pitch two packets as per the White Labs instructions.
The Direct Pitch stuff from White Labs is awesome. The last two times I have used it, the yeast was very fresh, and I had noticeable activity in about 4 hours.