Ask HN: How do I choose the right domain registrar?

I'm trying to secure a somewhat decent .com domain so I have a space to put projects or even a blog so I can find some work. Also to have a mail address that does sound a bit more professional.

So far I've looked trough the usual articles (blogs, lifehacker stuff, e.g.) which advise against GoDaddy and recommend sites like Hover, Namecheap, Name.com and Gandi.

They all seem to offer nearly the same stuff for nearly the same prices. I'm really not sure who to take or if it even matters.

Not all of them offer cheap mailboxes. I really like to have name@domain.com without too much hazzle or beeing bound to gmail(which costs money anyway if you want to use your own domain if I understand correctly?!).

Gandi comes with a free mailbox which I guess is great. Namecheap asks for an additional tiny fee. Name.com doesn't host mail. Hover asks for another $20 which is a bit steep.

I'm living in Europe, does it matter whether I use an US-based registrar? Does it if my site would be used for a business?

I'm beeing overwhelmed by choices.