you don't have to remember 400 hotkeys. most of blender's functionality is also accessible per menus and you will learn the hotkeys for the functions you currently need the most automatically. there also is a system behind the hotkeys. for example ctrl is always for creating something (ctrl-p -> create parent relationship) and alt always for deleting something (alt-p -> remove parent relationship).
i agree that it's a disadvantage that you can't redefine hotkeys but this will be fixed soon. after siggraph they will continue to work on 2.5.
you are much faster by using the keyboard and the mouse at the same time and that's why almost every 3d program is set up for working like that. if you don't like this way of working it's great that alternatives like truespace exist.
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http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=99http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=105by the way, you will find the torrents of those two training dvds now (look with google). they aren't step-by-step tutorials for absolute beginners though. it's more a looking over the shoulder of experienced blender users thing.
