Japanese Playstation 3 or import from US?
 

im having difficulty deciding which to buy for a birthday present.

playstation 3 here in japan (40gb, cost = 40,000 yen)
or
playstation 3 US (40gb, cost 35,000yen plus 11,000yen shippings)

obviously the japanese version of ps3, the menu can be set to english. that much i know. but ive read somewhere that when u set the menu to english and try to browse the internet theres gonna be this "japanese only! please change back" message and the menus (browser i guess) are stuck in japanese.
is this true?
if so... any advices on what to buy?

Hmm I haven't heard of the happening but who knows if it is true, so I would get the japanese ps3 and if that happens I would call the number on the box. They will work with you if that happens. :)

Home will be region locked to your console's region and not your PSN account. So if you care about Home at all I'd import from the US.

Other than that there's no difference in the two models. Yes, you can change the language to english. If you're on a JPN PSN account the homepage will be by default the japanese one but it won't stop you from going to english sites.

Home?
what exactly is it? its like a huge network to all people who are online on their ps3, am i correct?
so if i buy japanese version im stuck with japanese people who cant speak english, correct?

on the internet browser is there no text that cant be changed to english?
and i can play all ps3 games from america, right? just not the blueray?

With either console you can play all games (JPN and US) and all Blu-ray movies, as Japan and America share the same Blu-Ray region..

Games you can play without a problem and obviously if you're on a japanese website it's going to be japanese text. I wouldn't recommend using the PS3 browser though. It's rather worthless, slow and clunky and you will run into memory errors (the system in theory has more than enough but the browser can only use so much and manages differently than a conventional browser/pc).

Home is Sony's virtual gaming social network. If you have a JPN ps3 it will only let you access JPN home.

thanks! follow up questions:
so if i can only join JPN home means ill be able to play with japanese only. and that means if the games i have (which is english version) is not the same as them then we wont be able to play together?

or the online games are japanese only?

I would recommend getting a US PS3.

Why do you want a japanese PS3 anyway? I mean aside from the 6000 yen difference in price.

cause im in japan? and ill get it sooner. i cant wait.
if you guys says theres basically no difference between us and jpn versions except the home thingy then it aint so bad right?
what do i miss if i have jpn home?