New CM1200 - self-assigned IP address via Ethernet Connected Laptop - NO Internet

> [...] a lot of folks are under the impresstion that [...]

   Yup.  A Web or forum search for your model number should find many of
them.

> [...] they assured me that [...]

   Trust no one, I always say.  It might be true, _if_ your Internet
service were unusual (multiple IP addresses).  But, even so, connecting
a typical computer directly to the Internet that way (without a NAT
router in-between, acting as a firewall of sorts) would be a serious
security risk.

   If I wrote Netgear's documentation, many things would be different.