Could be! I've never used one of those but wouldn't the constant movement of negs through it knock the dust into different patterns? Also, would a hardcore eBayer really use film? Not that there's anything wrong with film but for convenience it's not a patch on digital as we know...

They still use K10D's...

I think it may be something to do with CMOS sensors (although I don't pretend to understand all the technicalities) but it seems a coincidence that you can turn it off on those cameras with a CCD sensor (K10D, etc) but not those with a CMOS sensor. Any techies care to hazard a guess why that might be?

But the dirt's in the same places on each shot so they're not scans...

Zoom lenses, as Kris says, tend to be a nightmare to service and the cost of a professional doing the job would likely be several times the value of the lens. There comes a point when some jobs just aren't worth doing.

Have a nice time bud, hope you discover something that makes you rich and famous (and then buy us all 645D's)

Here's my tip (as cars make up about 50% of all my photography); go for a wide angle lens as you'll rarely, if ever, need anything longer than a 50mm (equivalent). I find the DA12-24 is perfect for most car photography and absolutely invaluable for interiors, etc.

If you're going for a compact camera then I'd give serious consideration to the Panasonic LX3 - a suberb compact with a 24-60mm equivalent lens and easily good enough quality for print work as long as you don't let the ISO stray above about 400. Add to that a tripod and you have a perfect car kit for the inexperienced.

The X90 is quite a recent camera so if your software (be it the OS itself or third party) predates it then it'll probably need updating with new camera profiles. It's a shame you can't run PhotoMe as that seems to add new profiles on an almost daily basis but I'm sure Apple will be on the case soon enough.

Plus the 645D has made many drool but it requires very deep pockets right now...

Yes