Suigeneris:
Many thanks for your helpful suggestion! I was indeed able to initialize my SSD via the netbook's Disk Management Console and selected the MBR option. As I write, Acronis is hard at work cloning my disk. I have installed a couple of SSDs in the past but don't remember the Initialization point coming up - another wrinkle to try to hang on to!
Incidentally, my third party USB/SATA cable seems to work just fine and I regret troubling Kevin M with my earlier request for information about the intel adapter. I would doubt, however, whether intel actually make this item and it might even be a re-badged version of the StarTech cable that I am using (this came as part of a standard 2.5in SATA HDD enclosure Part # SAT2510BU2).
I am along term and generally very satisfied user of Acronis products but it is good to know there are alternatives.
voconia