Been looking to pick one of these up for a long time now so I can play imports, but my search-fu is weak and I can't seem to find any sites with good comparisons on the different brands, their compatibility, and the like. It should also be noted that my soldering skills are far from spectacular. I know there are also some alternatives like Swap Magic that don't require any sort of soldering, but I'm somewhat worried about their reliability. Is there anyone more knowledgeable on the subject that could toss up some insight, or should I just bite the bullet and see if I can get a Japanese PS2 imported instead?

I will ask my friend who has had several chipped ps2's

he's a beatmania freak -__-

Okay, thanks.