jtara - 7:44 pm on Oct 13, 2007 (gmt 0)

To keep it generic - tasting isn't just for the big guys any more. While it originally was available only to people registering domains in bulk, it's now possible to taste "retail".

A number of registrars now offer tasting at reasonable prices, even for just one domain, to anybody. Typically, they charge your account or credit card for the registration, and you have some period (a few days) in which to try it out, make up your mind, whatever. If you decide you don't want it, you either get money back on your credit card or a "store credit", minus a small return fee of well under a dollar.

So, this might be a solution to your problem. It's only a short period of time, though, so it wouldn't be useful if it takes a week or two to make a decision.

Using a whois application directly on your own computer, rather than using the whois search box your registrar kindly provided for you is probably good enough protection.