well .. there is alot to tell ...
first Syria is a very nice country sepcially the area u r going to ... full of fruit and natural area and the best of all it is near the Turkish border which is a big forest area .. the beach is very nice as well .

as an American I am not sure if u need a visa .
as u said it is quite expensive to buy electronics brands there .. but there is a channel for smuglered items from Lebanon which is cheep but no warranty .

driving there is a miss and scary bit u will get used to it .
people are nice but u need to bargen alot when buy anything .
I am sure u will enjoy there because it is not that cost to live .

by the way, I am jordanian but I like Syria very much and I drove accross Syria to Turkey many times ..

good luck