Network Solutions is evil. What domain registrar do you recommend and why?

I have some clients who use Network Solutions, and have for a decade or more. Every once in a while a domain they park or even regularly use expires because they didn’t notice the renewal e-mail. (I half-suspect NetSol doesn’t make these very obvious!) So, anyway, for as long as I can remember, renewing was no big deal if an expiration happened by accident. Now, suddenly, NetSol is charging a “reinstatement fee” for renewals after the registration period has lapsed. This is disingenuous for at least two reasons: (1) registering a new domain is less than the fee plus the renewal and (2) it seems very unlikely it costs NetSol a penny to renew a domain.

NetSol costs more than other registrars and offers terrible service. The only reason I stayed as long as I did is they were convenient and moving seemed like a drag. Well, I’m beyond the point where I care to stay any longer. They’re just awful. If the above isn’t bad enough, when it comes time to renew, you have to say no to numerous services they hawk at you. Everything about them just seems arduous. So, I’d like to be done with NetSol – between my personal problems with them and all the other evil they do, I don’t see any point in giving them more money than I have to (which will still be some, since they wholesale dot-com and others out). I have a few clients using them, perhaps totaling a dozen or so domains. Ideally, I’d like them all to go to the same new registrar at my recommendation. I have other clients using register.com and godaddy.com, and both services seem fine to me – but then, I don’t deal with the nitty-gritty of these two either.

If you want to skip the above rant and get to the point: Any thoughts on a decent registrar? Transfer pitfalls? Fine print I should look out for? Other nefarious practices? Poor corporate-social responsibility on the part of anyone? (You’ll note I link to a BBC article where a right-wing Dutch politician complains about NetSol bungling some complaints about a domain that was intended to market his anti-Islamic film. While I don’t think I would find the film agreeable, I don’t like the idea of a company, which in this case should be a common carrier, that seems willing to commit a blatant act of censorship either. I would prefer to put my money towards a company that doesn’t exhibit such behavior.)