[chryuop]

That is why you should throw yourself into kana immediately. But as per romaji, it is true. There are at least 3 different recognized ways of writing in romaji and they all have their pros and cons.

What is really confusing is seeing a native speaker writing in romaji. They don't know romaji standards (as in the ones we have in our textbooks) so they write how they read it. That means sometimes it is a "oo" and sometimes it is a "ou". Sometimes it is a "ee" and sometimes it is a "ei" (I receive Japanese lessons from a native speaker and his lessons are full of these things...just glad he keeps the romaji to a minimum, for the most it's kana).
What is funnier is that sometimes people who want to learn Japanese expect Japanese native speakers to be fully knowledgable of romaji...but I doubt that happens unless they are actually exposed to the western lifestyle.

Truth is...the only reason for using romaji is laziness. Now I am going back home to Italy for few weeks where my parents have a computer which can't show kana. I wouldn't even dream to write in romaji to my friend in Japan. If I have to use western characters then I write in English.