Question : Network Cable Unplugged Error - With a twist

I have a brand new out of the box Advent 4213 Netbook.
I am getting the notorious "Network Cable Unplugged" error message even when the ethernet cable is plugged in.
I've tried the common suggestions, check the driver, manually configure the duplex/flow settings, manually set the ip address.

No luck with any of them. However... if I set the duplex/speed to 10 Full and manually assign the IP address then the error message goes away. The netbook reports a valid connection. BUT I cant ping it over the network, I cant see anything else on the network from the netbook and I have bytes being sent in the status box, but none received. Therefore the network connection isnt valid.

This is the second netbook. The first went back to the shop because I was convinced that there must be a fault with the port. Having two with faulty port is a possibility but before I shout at the shop, does anyone have any ideas?

The card is onboard and it is not possible nor desirable to add another NIC onto a netbook (unless via USB but thats not a practical solution)

I'm running XP Home

Answer : Network Cable Unplugged Error - With a twist

sorry just tryin to go through anything that might cause it. As bad as it sounds looks like they might have had a bad batch of notebooks.