DIY oil change

I just skimmed a most entertaining thread here about oil changes that contained a surprisingly concentrated number of posts regarding Middle Earth, evil corporations, Bush/Cheney and the Magic Kingdom. Evidently how frequently you change your oil is either directly or inversely proportional to how frequently you go to church (can't remember which). Anyway... to hopefully avoid much of that and keep this thread on topic, I'll ask my questions as specifically as possible. (Also, I have downloaded a helpful "how-to" from the John's Stuff website, linked from this forum, so I already know about that.)

Frequency. It has been argued that changing the oil somewhere in the 1k to 5k range might be a good idea, because of a possibly higher degree of metal-to-metal contact during a new car's "break-in" period. I buy the argument at least that it can't be a bad idea to change your oil before the factory-recommended oil change (after all, what's the harm except to my wallet). So no one needs to try to convince me to wait until 1 year or 10k miles; I'm already aware that this is Toyota's recommendation but I don't see why doing an early oil change would be a problem.

Raising the car. I'm looking at a Blitz 8000 plastic ramp, but some have complained that using this ramp they can't easily get the plastic door all the way open to access the oil pan - and even if they do, the ramp has the car tilted such that all the old oil can't drain out completely. Hypothetically speaking then, if I set the ramps on top of a sufficiently wide, solid 1" thick board, and also put them on my driveway which has a slight slope up to the garage (ramps would be pointing down the slope), will I increase both the ability to get the plastic cover open as well as the chance of getting the oil to drain forward out of the oil pan, without simultaneously increasing the chance of somehow crushing my skull while trying to unscrew the plug? Or would trying to do this on even a slight slope be inherently risky, even if I use the parking brake and wedge something in front of the rear tires, etc.?

Oil. I asked the guy at the service dept. where I bought the car if any 0W-20 oil was OK, and he said yes. But I remain skeptical. Is there a compelling reason to buy only Toyota brand 0W-20 oil, other than because the manual says so? And if so, can I find this product anywhere except a Toyota dealership? I have only used 10W-30 oil on my other cars, so I don't know how common 0W-20 synthetic oil even is. Ideally I'd like to find a website where I can order all my oil change supplies (including OEM oil filter); if anyone has any suggestions on this, please advise.

My car is only at about 650 miles at this point but I'd like to have all the equipment & materials at the ready for my first oil change, which I will probably attempt within the next few months. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...