Nice review, Mike; I have what I guess is the baby brother of this one, which does 0-20V at 0-5A instead -- mine's branded as a Maplin N93CX.
Externally they look identical, except mine has three-digit instead of four-digit meters (with the polariser the other way around!), and uses a pair of single-turn pots instead of encoders. The latter make it a little fiddly to adjust, especially combined with the slight lag in the display, so I'm tempted to pop the back off when I get a spare moment and see if I can make a similar mod to increase the update rate. The modular construction means the pots might find themselves upgraded to ten-turn models as well...
By the way -- the "joker on eBay" you mentioned sounds like the chap who basically lists vast swathes of Farnell's catalogue at 100% - 200% markup? I'm not sure I understand how such a business model can prove successful, frankly!