Choosing a bluray drive
The problem
Against my better judgement, I've ordered some Japanese blurays. Never mind that they're absurdly expensive for two episodes of anime, I don't even own a bluray drive yet.
That can be fixed. I don't know what I'm doing though, maybe I'll want to rip BDs? Is that hard these days? When I was a wee lad you'd buy a Liteon CD burner because they were good rippers. That was more for the dodgy copy-protection methods in use on games - not really the case for video-type discs.
Assessment
Looks like anything is fine, really. I dunno if region-locking is going to screw me over or not, in which case I'd want something that can take an "RPC1" firmware. Haven't found any indication yet whether region control works the same as it did on DVDs, and people suck at writing helpful pages full of clear, concise information. 
What I'll get
LG CH12LS28 from IJK: http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=39_532&products_id=135905
$68 and can write blurays should I feel the urge. $12 for credit-card surcharge and delivery brings it up to basically $80, home and hosed.
What to know
Well that was easy:
http://lifehacker.com/5559007/the-hassle+free-guide-to-ripping-your-blu+ray-collection
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/rip_your_movie_dvds_and_watch_them_anywhere
If it comes to it, I'll fork out for AnyDVD. Less fucking around == big win.