buying a laserdisc player from japan?

hello all,

i've been looking for an LD player for nearly 10 years now, on and off. where i am (the countryside of the US) i have never once found a LD player with both digital out and AC-3 for under $600. at this point, i'm considering importing a high end machine from japan from a proxy site like sendico.

due to the exorbitant shipping costs that will come from importing something of that size from japan, is it even worth importing? should i continue the search stateside? if i own a japanese player, what should i keep in mind when using it that would be different from an american player? and how much would it cost to ship an LD player over here.