JApan has never been cheap for electronics. The attraction was that they always had new/cool stuff way before the rest of the world. This is rarely the case anymore as product cycles have shortened and the lag is rarely there anymore. Most of the cool stuff that you find is VERY proprietary towards Japanese systems (i.e. the cell phones work on a different system then practically everywhere else.

Singapore may be a deal for people from the UK, but is generally 30% higher than the US in electronics.

There is cool cheap stuff you can get in China (like the new no-name DVD Recorders for under $300) but reliability is always an issue.