Originally Posted by
j_factor
I don't believe there are any compatibility issues as far as games only working on one version of the console. If you live in NTSC land, it would be better to get an NTSC console. You probably don't have a TV that can accept a PAL signal.
To switch you have to plug in a mouse and hit both mouse buttons at startup. Note that it doesn't actually change what type of video signal the console outputs.
Hard to say on the value, but now that the new old stock has dried up, I'm sure the PAL ones are worth significantly less.