Domain name registrar sugestions

Well I finally have made the decision to buy myself a domain name. The reason being is that I am am going to start University this Fall and would like a place to put up my content, portfolio, work, etc.

Now I am looking for a top level domain registrar, that is Verisign accredited (the reason being that all .com and .net go through them).

As for regards to name servers I will be using Hurricane Electric's DNS name servers as they also provide me with IPv6 tunnel.

Now I would preferably have a .com rather than a .net as it is easier to remember.

Does anybody have any good registrars you would suggest? It must be US based company.
I am basically looking for the best bang for the buck.

Ps: GoDaddy is out of the question...

Just in case anyone is wondering I would be hosting this website myself at my house, I also have my ISPs approval under the Acceptable Use Policy as I am not using it for commercial use (student/academic purposes only).

Is there anything in particular I should watch out or pay attention to in the process of buying my domain name?

Ion, It is good to do a lot of research before you jump. But registering a domain can be almost anywhere and there are some good prices out there. I personally pay more by using Network Solutions because they have what I consider pretty good support. I also use their SSL which makes it more secure.
What OS are you going to use to run your Web Page? Linux, windows server 2008, and there are a few others but require a bit more knowledge.
Security of your IIS is probably the most important item to consider.
Of course you will have a static IP for your web server?
I also agree that registering with a US company is a good idea but wondering why you do not want GoDaddy?

Have you searched for prices on domain registrars?

Rich

In regards to the server, I would be using Linux as either Ubuntu Server or CentOS , I have already have had web pages running inside my intranet and I am fairly knowledgeable with the server end, I also use Apache.

Yes the internet connection from my ISP has a static IPv4, as for IPv6 I am using Hurricane Electric's static IPv6 solution as described in my original post.

As for prices so far most registrars are asking anywhere from $14.99 to $34.99.

The reason that I chose not to use GoDaddy is mainly from my own perception of the company, I not saying that they aren't good, but their TV and Internet advertisements always made them feel a little sketchy. It basically boils down to trust.

I also saw you mentioned Network Solutions. I took a look at their plans and they aren't too terribly expensive, but after reading about their company I defiantly have more peace of mind with them rather than GoDaddy.

As for a SSL certificate, I don't foresee needing one yet, but it may come in handy, later down the road as I am not ready to to $49.99/yr for 4 years especially as this will just be academics/school based work, portfolio, etc.

Ion, It looks like you have done enough prep work on your web server. I would recommend you go for Network Solutions as they are much easier to deal with when messing with your dns for your web server.

Rich