[jasonbvr]

There is supposedly a way to switch your regional compatibility, but I really don't have a clue how to. As far as the keyboard goes, the arrangement of the keys is a little different as far as the placement because there are a few extra ones. Honestly I don't think having a Japanese keyboard would accelerate you learning the language. You would have to learn to type in the Japanese form of QWERTY, as in memorize where the keys are. It is a lot easier to spell the Japanese word using Romaji then just hit the space bar and select the correct Kanji. There are plenty of programs out there for inputing Japanese script in non-Japanese computers.

As far as technology and pricing, I found that when I was shopping around last year I could get a better deal in the States as far as processor, memory, etcetera. There are some top of the line machines here and having one custom tailored is rather convenient, but the price is going to be relatively comparative to what you will pay everywhere else.