synthesizers

[Ari]

Hi all,
In June my teacher is going to America, so I'm trying to see if she can't
get me a hardware synthesizer to start using linux. She'll be in L.a, so is
their any distributor of hardware synthesizers and adaptive technologies who
would deliver one, or near enough so that she can go their? Also, Janina
recommended to me the DoubleTalk, but are their other options that are
multi-lingual? I've heard of one called Keynote Gold, and I see it's
compatible with speakup, but is the quality of speech good, how much more
expensive is it, what languages does it come in, and who sells it? The
DoubleTalk   connects via a serial
port, so I'm guessing that I'll need to install drivers for it everytime, is
their any synthesizer that is plug-and-play USB which gets detected and
recognised automatically?
Thanks
Ari