Re: chinese N900s on ebay?
 

Same here. All parts were fake except for phone bowels. However, I had more luck. Headphone socket had bent contacts, but the rest was functional. The phone was not re-flashed, it even had ovi account from the previous owner.
Also beware that phone cases from hk are not true. They are hard to distinguish at first glance, but my lens cover separated due to bad glue. I've decided to buy a spare n900 and easily found lightly used one locally for about the same price.

Re: chinese N900s on ebay?
 

The one I got seems to be refurbished, not in the original packaging. However refurbished in mint consition and with most of the original accesories. The only thing that seems to be missing is the TV out cord.

Re: chinese N900s on ebay?
 

$200 for a new/refurbed N900 is a pretty good deal, all said. It's not outrageous or surprising, given the age, original price, current demand, and level of stock.

My big question would be: Can one flash this with the global firmware vs the regional firmware it was made for? I know some had issues reflashing European devices with India/China firmware when it was first out. Though at the same time, several people reflashed UK/Vendor firmware to the Nokia global version with success early on too, so. Anyone try this yet? I'd love to get one, if it will take the US-base release firmware. (Because I like having an FM transmitter with the proper ranges...)

Sigh...
<RANT>
They all say that. My N900 was shipped in the first batch from Nokia (through NokiaUSA) and has that exact wording on it, and it's IMEI indicates the point of origin is Korea. They were all designed in Finland, and the cellular components were made in Korea.

There are lots of things that do this. The requirements for "Made in <country>" vary by country. In the US, you can take 50 truck parts, all made in various other countries, assemble 90% of it in Mexico, ship it to the US, finish up the assembly and put new tires on it and still call it "Made in America".

The IMEI tells you that the cellular module was made by a Korean assembly plant. That's all. Other parts were all made in different places, assembled God knows where, and wound up in a crate that may have passed through Finland at some point, probably to get the latest software loaded onto it, if you're lucky.

Can we please stop with the crap conspiracies that just because of something that's found on 100% of the devices ever made by Nokia exists on a product pictured in e-bay that guarantees it's a forgery? These sellers are simply reading the box/device, which has "Made in Finland" stamped all over it.

Yes, there are knock-offs. They're easy to spot, and now sell for sub-$50. Yes, some less reputable vendors are selling refurbs as "new". Yes, some are taking Nokia components (battery/cords/chargers/etc) and replacing them with knock-offs. But you can't tell that by a description or by pictures posted on e-bay! The only way to know for sure is to contact someone who bought from them already and make sure it's the real deal, then hope they're still dealing with good merchandise when you place your order.
</RANT>

Re: chinese N900s on ebay?
 

The FTC would disagree with you:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/1997/12/epsmadeusa.htm