One for those that know here

I have several users with the same identical issue

they are all running Vista with Office 2003 (I've tested and the issue occurs with office 2007 as well)

Basically they are unable to download their e-mails, if the mail is more than around 47k in size.

The download just hangs.

They are using pop3 mail and we have quite a slow connection

Any questions / ideas gratefully received (I've done all the obvious like re-installing office and service packs etc)

my best guess would be to try:

Tools -> Accounts ->Account Name -> Advanced Tab -> Server Timeouts -> Crank it up

try (temporarily) disabling any email virus scan addins

verify that its not the server by trying another email client (ie: thunderbird)