[olug] directnic.com down

[Obi-Wan]

OK, speaking of registrars, what's the cheapest .com registrar out there?
I'm going to be rebranding my photography business, and I want to register
several variations on the name just to protect the brand and allow for
possible future expansion.  I won't be advertising these secondary domains
in the foreseeable future, though, so I hate to spend a bunch of money
on an uber-reliable registrar.  Just somebody that will forward HTTP
requests to a different domain would be sufficient.

I've used both Network Solutions (Verisign) and GoDaddy in the past,
and have no complaints with the technical performance of either.
What's the down side of the cheaper, lesser-known registrars?  Is it
just the ease of managing multiple domains?

-- 
Ben "Obi-Wan" Hollingsworth                             obiwan at jedi.com
   The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the
     Giver of all good things, so if I stand, let me stand on the
       promise that You will pull me through.  -- Rich Mullins