cool - thanks for the ideas, unfortunatly I can cross off most of them:
The subnet mask is a simple 255.255.255.0, and if it
was wrong, the cross-cable connection shouldn't work (should it?)
The Gateway should only be used to connect to an external network or internet (and
is correct anyway) {... hmmm, need to see if I can access it through the gateway - long shot, but...
nope.}
The network is running on hubs; 10/100 hubs, so the connection shouldn't matter {... but it gives me something else to look at I hadn't thought on
... actually, you may be onto something...}
It's fixed addresses and I have no idea how to look for the printer's MAC address across the network (I've never had any occasion to even look at it on the printer before)