Well I think someone got out of bed the wrong way, but there are many things that could be stolen on ebay. Go onto a fishing tackle forum and there all talking about rods and reels on ebay.....go onto mountain bike forums and its the same.

Anyway, back on topic.....the Columbus is more "techie", you got DVD, you can plumb in freeview, video on the move, custom POIs and even change the start up screen. If you want instant satnav and have Maxidot and don't mind a bit of tinkering, its a good bit of kit.

I've not played with firmware as I could not see a benefit and most are done by unknowns.

the car doesnt have maxi dot unfortunatly, iam guessing the columbus would be just about as good anyway ?

I would but with maxidot you get the directions on the display. Why not pop to a showroom for a play with a unit? You then need the unit and local VCDS owner and beer tokens to get it fitted, plus a bit of trim. If you want tv/games console then an adapter from Kufatec. I have mine nicely setup now with a cheapy camping freeview unit, cheap ebay aerial and a video input going to my ham radio tranceiver. I loaded POIs for cameras, Mcdonolds, bakeries, Santandar blar blar. The big display and voice guidence is spot on. However to keep the voice control needs a bit of wiring or another mic, I did'nt bother.

P.S Maybe look at retro fitting maxidot!

if the trader is UK based, has high, largely unblemished feedback or has a retail outlet then it would seem that you have every right to believe that the unit you are purchasing is kosha.

If the buyers don't find out the unit is stolen within the Ebay feedback window (and there's no reason at all that they would), the unit turns up in a couple of days in good condition, etc, of course the sellers will have great feedback. This means nothing.

If a seller is selling large quantities of £1500 sat navs for < £500, where do you think they are sourcing them?

Perhaps it might be an idea to produce a sticky which states that if you purchase Columbus / Bolero / RNS etc etc units secondhand there is a possiility that you may be purchasing a unit that has been aquired though dubious methods. Lock the post and leave it at that.

I think that's worth doing.

Nick

I stand by my earlier comments - you have every right to expect that a UK based supplier who appears to be legit IS legit. This goes for so much more than Skoda / VW stereo units!

.......but like I said I do agree with your comments and sentiments and (feined) ignorance is no defence in law.

Nick P I am in 100% agreement with you. After lots of searching, emails and telephone calls I could not get any vendors (eBay or other) to confirm how exactly they were able to obtain mint Columbus £1500 units and sell them for a fraction of that. I couldn't hide my head in the sand so I purchased a new Pioneer double-din navi unit and for what it's worth I think it is a much better solution, especially now that I have a Connects2 "rubber touch" fascia trim which looks a lot smarter!