I have an A&K M249 para, it certainly attracts some sideways glances and many will tell you that an M4 with a high cap is just as good at suppression BUT the 2500 round magazine and just the pure intimidation factor of a support gun is worth the effort! Most people are fine with it as long as you're not holding the loud button down for ages.
450FPS is bolt action sniper rifle territory. I did see someone mention somewhere that there are some sites that allow support guns to run higher FPS than a standard AEG but I don't know of any myself.
Yes it is! Apart from the lugging around bit lol! I have a Star M60E4 and its great fun (as in my username pic), its not especially heavy but it is awkward to carry around, even with a sling, due to the box mag sticking out one side and cocking handle the other, but none of that matters when the opposition see you walk past, on the way to dig in ready to hose them down! That said I don't use it half as much as I really should. And it has the original plastic gearbox shell still (which I trust more than their cast metal ones)!
