I've been blaming something on Windows 7 that I probably shouldn't have.

At home I use wireless networking for all my portables with only the desktop connected via cable to the Internet.

Whenever I've taken my MacBook running (now) OsX Snow Leopard (and also when it was running Tiger - I hopped over Leopard) and connected it via cable to the Office internet, it's just taken that in its stride and connected via cable.

However when I've taken the HP running Win7 to work half the time it's connected immediately via cable and half the time I've had to run all sort of diagnostics before it will connect. Meanwhile it was trying and failing to connect via wireless.

So I blamed it on Windows 7.

Today however none of the diagnostics routines worked and so I had to go even deeper and discovered that it was saying that the Ethernet cable wasn't plugged in (which it was).

So I tried another cable. Same thing.

So I tried the cable I was using in the normal work PC. It was immediately recognized. So I tried yet another cable and that was immediately recognized too.

Doesn't look like a Windows 7 problem after all does it. More like a couple of cables that work some of the time but not all the time.

Shades of Jerry Pournelle formerly of Byte fame. Always check the cables first!

The only thing is that both the cables I tried haven't been giving problems when attached to an old work PC - at least as far as I can remember, I don't use that 5 year old PC that often.

Nor of course have they been giving problems with the Mac. Could it simply be that the ethernet port is better made (or that the Mac OS is more tolerant) ?

P.S. I'm beginning to think the problem is the portable rather than the cables.

Yesterday the cable that worked the day before didn't work and the one that didn't work the day before wasn't immediately recognized but was after I slightly moved it. It then worked all day.

However, I then took the machine home (where I used wireless) so I needed to connect it again this morning to Ethernet. Now, none of the cables work with it (even the one which is being used on my work machine and which definately is an OK cable.

So I guess we are back to a poorly designed port (and yes, no amount of slightly moving the cable at the portable end has got me a connection).

So you get what you pay for.

Pity. I thought I'd discovered the holy grail of cheap computing (buy a cheap machine with a poor keyboard but reasonable processor; reasonable graphics; lots of memory and lots of disk space and add an external keyboard and mouse). Obviously you do get somewhat more for your money when you buy a "business" model. Like working Ethernet ports perhaps.

(The problem is that as I am using this to write the book I can't do without it easily so any repair will have to wait. I use it wireless only in any case most of the time. The real problem is that it wouldn't surprise me if the entire set of ports on the left-hand side of the PC have problems soon. I've already had intermitent loss of keyboard functionality when one of those was connected to a left-hand side USB port.

Meanwhile the MacBook after almost three years is still going strong - as is the Acer Ferrari. Pity they only have 2GB max. Great pity. Pity too I was fairly broke when I bought the HP so didn't go for the "workbook" I had thought of going for.