Why are people so scared of customs charges anyway? Even if you pay them it'll still cost you far less than a UK model.
Only slightly, but you get all the disadvantages, like no warranty, games logging in on the wrong region, a Rev1 console, not a Rev2, NTSC output by default on analog connections, wrong mains lead and so on.
OK, you do get hardware PS2 BC (but is software THAT bad? not in my opinion), and it's possible the only the software units may do the FSAA/upscaling of PS2/PS1.
For the £10 odd, is it really worth it? (you will get stung 17.5% VAT, 10% import duty), making a total of £414 (based on £325 US price).