You need an Acer AspireOne. Still have mine, still awesome.
I have an X100e and it does have pretty good build quality, it's just really starting to lag on performance.
An interesting model though is the Lenovo S10, which I use for work. These came with Intel Atoms as well as AMD processors. The Intel models are a bit harder to find if I remember right as they were meant for Australia. The better model in my opinion though, and the reason I bought it for work is the S10E model has an Express card port. Combined with an express card esata adapter, I use it for drive imagine. It may not have USB 3, but an express port really makes up for it. They also came in multiple colors, I found one on Ebay, through Google that was mis-labled, and got a pink one for a song. No, I didn't want pink, but it was CHEAP, and for a laptop I lug around, few people are going to steal a pink laptop.
Another good one is the Toshiba NB305, which looks and is about as well built as Toshiba notebooks at the time, in fact reviewers flat out said it was built like a laptop. Unfortunately, it's slower than others with equivalent hardware.
Still another is the Samsung N310, it's rubberized/ruggedized. It feels kind of cheap because of it but it's DURABLE. I have one that went over to the Persian Gulf for a year, and came back loaded with sand and still ran. Not only was every screw covered and sealed (but not waterproof), it also had a protected screen. Which is funny because Samsung stuck a fantastic matte screen behind that shiny protective plastic cover. The cover is great for harsh environments, but matte is much nicer.
Interestingly, the screens on the Samsung and the Toshiba interchange (as do most netbook screens probably), so when the airlines broke the Toshiba screen, I just swapped in the Samsung screen, which gave me a Toshiba netbook with it's great build quality, but, with a matte screen. It was a nice upgrade to the Toshiba. Most screens if the connector is in the right place, uses the same backlight, and is the same size, will interchange. Even with higher resolutions. I upgraded the screen on my old T410 that way. Just beware that sellers will often mix glossy and matte and not give you the choice, also, some are cheap Chinese knockoffs, always try for an oem screen. I would rather buy a good used one with hinges still attached than a brand new aftermarket.
Forget the AspireOne.
All of these are fun, but if you love the format, check out the Samsung NP300U1A (sometimes called the Princeton). These have an 11.6in screen, handles 8 gigs of DDR3, has a 2.5in sata drive (slim, but people have fit normal ones), 1366 resolution, and a Core I3 processor. I paid $140 for mine in mint condition, which was a bit much, but they aren't common or the easiest to find so you have to grab what you can. Really, they are awesome little laptops. It came with Win7, worked well with Win10, and while Mac is possible, Linux absolutely screams on it, it loves Linux. Few laptops other than Ultrabooks pack this kind of power into such a small package and you won't get one of those for as cheap. While it lacks a lot of things, it is perfect in it's own little way and become my primary laptop, and that's saying something considering the laptops I have.
There are actually a couple other laptops like this as well, but they are extremely rare to come up for sale, and often cost as much as new mid level laptops. People into these types of laptops tend to covet them because there aren't many options. The Samsung is a relatively unknown jewel among them. Oh, and if you break it, parts are actually reasonable and easy to get.
One of our clients decided to use EeePC for their remote/mobile users a few years back.
I spent a couple of weeks with one of their netbooks running the original Linux trying to setup it to boot, start and stop services easily for non-technical users.
The kind of put me off them - the keyboard was too small (I have fairly large hands, which probably didn't help), the screen was too small, and the whole thing was generally too slow (for continual reboots and restarts to repeatedly test everything).
A couple of years later I acquired a tablet, and found that much more usable, despite its much higher level of proprietaryness.
One of our clients decided to use EeePC for their remote/mobile users a few years back.
I spent a couple of weeks with one of their netbooks running the original Linux trying to setup it to boot, start and stop services easily for non-technical users.
The kind of put me off them - the keyboard was too small (I have fairly large hands, which probably didn't help), the screen was too small, and the whole thing was generally too slow (for continual reboots and restarts to repeatedly test everything).
A couple of years later I acquired a tablet, and found that much more usable, despite its much higher level of proprietaryness.
The EeePC is deffinitly down there in terms of performance, and the smaller netbooks are definitely not large hand friendly, the keyboard on my Dell Mini 9 is pretty small and hard to be accurate on. But i still cant help but like them..... Though i definitely prefer the higher end netbooks that came out near the end of the netbook craze and beginning of tablets taking the market share.
That Razer netbook announced at CES... I'm VERY interested. It looks gorgeous as usual.
I had an Eee 701 back in the day… it was awful, but at the same time it was the only electronic device I was able to use to type notes in same classes back in high school. Actually, HP Jornada 720 (a true netbook in the Psion way) was better for the most part, even the keyboard felt better… at the cost of WinCE (as opposed to up-to-date GNU/Linux) though.
Later, when I didn't need it anymore, I went through a bunch of "better" and better models. Acer ZG5 was the worst with its terrible SSD. Eee 901 looked like 701 done right, although I was already in love with Eee 1000HE, which was a tad bit bulkier, but had excellent battery life. It all felt very plastic, unfortunately. The greatest upgrade was HP Mini 5101, a miniaturized HP ProBook including a neat keyboard; it shipped with SLED too, that was an interesting experience.
It lead me to replace me big laptop by Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 (thinkpad keyboard w/ trackpoint; non-Atom CPU etc.), that lasted me the longest from all my laptops, until I finally got hold of a true X series thinkpad Tablet PC—I haven't looked back ever since. I've always avoided touchscreen netbooks, because of "Intel" Poulsbo GPUs with their terrible driver support. There were some netbook-sized Tablet PCs in Fujitsu-Siemens' Lifebook line, and I even tried P1510 for a while, but apart from terrible cooling, it had a resistive touchscreen with obscure drivers, rather than a proper Wacom digitizer.
The only x86 netbook, that I still want to try some day, is the legendary Sony Vaio P (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/vaio-p-doesnt-have-nothin-on-these-other-awesome-pocket-friend/).Show Image(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/1-12-09-vaio-p-pocket_1.jpg)Show Image(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/vaio-p-pockets-1.jpg)
One of our clients decided to use EeePC for their remote/mobile users a few years back.
I spent a couple of weeks with one of their netbooks running the original Linux trying to setup it to boot, start and stop services easily for non-technical users.
The kind of put me off them - the keyboard was too small (I have fairly large hands, which probably didn't help), the screen was too small, and the whole thing was generally too slow (for continual reboots and restarts to repeatedly test everything).
A couple of years later I acquired a tablet, and found that much more usable, despite its much higher level of proprietaryness.
The EeePC is deffinitly down there in terms of performance, and the smaller netbooks are definitely not large hand friendly, the keyboard on my Dell Mini 9 is pretty small and hard to be accurate on. But i still cant help but like them..... Though i definitely prefer the higher end netbooks that came out near the end of the netbook craze and beginning of tablets taking the market share.
I liked the idea of netbooks, and enjoyed my time using one, but can't see myself using one on a regular basis.
More for you :p
But it doesnt look like there are any up on ebay that are even remotely working right now, but ill have to remember to look now and then.
Thanks for replying and feeding my obsession lol.
The only x86 netbook, that I still want to try some day, is the legendary Sony Vaio P (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/vaio-p-doesnt-have-nothin-on-these-other-awesome-pocket-friend/).The HP Minis were cool little netbooks (I forgot about that one), I never saw the pro, I had the consumer version, but it too had a very nice keyboard. Had I seen the Pro a couple years ago, I probably would have gotten one. The artsy consumer ones were pretty and was going to swap my cover but I realized I had no use for it and a customer offered me more than I had in it, so I sold it after only a week.
But it doesnt look like there are any up on ebay that are even remotely working right now, but ill have to remember to look now and then.
Thanks for replying and feeding my obsession lol.
Haha.
Yeah, small little laptops like this are sort of a fetish for people, and they really hate letting them go. I was really bummed when Sony sold Viao off as they have historically catered to people like me.
As for the Samsung, I forgot about it, but mine flexes a bit because of me modding it to fit a standard SSD rather than buying a thinner one like I should have. I can fix it with a new palmrest, I just haven't gotten around to it. That will stiffen it back up a bit. Mine feels rather cheap because of it. Anyhow, keep your eyes out for it though, they are quite cool.
Oh, a little trick I heard regarding I3's... They tend to lag because the processor idles down too far under Windows default power settings. Put minimum processor state to about 7% instead of the 5% it usually is, and it eliminates the lag of it powering up. It does little to battery life and makes it a bit snappier. With this and an SSD, it runs as well as some new I5 laptops.The only x86 netbook, that I still want to try some day, is the legendary Sony Vaio P (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/vaio-p-doesnt-have-nothin-on-these-other-awesome-pocket-friend/).The HP Minis were cool little netbooks (I forgot about that one), I never saw the pro, I had the consumer version, but it too had a very nice keyboard. Had I seen the Pro a couple years ago, I probably would have gotten one. The artsy consumer ones were pretty and was going to swap my cover but I realized I had no use for it and a customer offered me more than I had in it, so I sold it after only a week.
Those Sony still fetch a premium for what they are (last time I checked at least), I wanted one for the longest time, part of me still does, but as much as I like it, I would pass. The old Atoms are just too slow, Intel waited way too long to update the Atom line.
I got my x120e, it's aight.... but overall... I much rather have my x220 whenever possible.. It's not That much heavier, but it can get things done way way faster.
We have an ASUS eeePC.
This thing is so awfully slow.
I already did my best at speeding it up by disabling fancy design features and useless services running in the background, I even upgraded the RAM to 4GB, but it's still very slow.
I bought a Dell Mini 1011 a while back fully upgraded (except for SSD :( )
sadly I have been thinking about listing it...it made a great network bridge but haven't really done much otherwise.
convince me I am missing something ;)
I bought a Dell Mini 1011 a while back fully upgraded (except for SSD :( )
sadly I have been thinking about listing it...it made a great network bridge but haven't really done much otherwise.
convince me I am missing something ;)
is that with the N270 cpu ?
I had an Eee 701 back in the day… it was awful, but at the same time it was the only electronic device I was able to use to type notes in same classes back in high school. Actually, HP Jornada 720 (a true netbook in the Psion way) was better for the most part, even the keyboard felt better… at the cost of WinCE (as opposed to up-to-date GNU/Linux) though.
Later, when I didn't need it anymore, I went through a bunch of "better" and better models. Acer ZG5 was the worst with its terrible SSD. Eee 901 looked like 701 done right, although I was already in love with Eee 1000HE, which was a tad bit bulkier, but had excellent battery life. It all felt very plastic, unfortunately. The greatest upgrade was HP Mini 5101, a miniaturized HP ProBook including a neat keyboard; it shipped with SLED too, that was an interesting experience.
It lead me to replace me big laptop by Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 (thinkpad keyboard w/ trackpoint; non-Atom CPU etc.), that lasted me the longest from all my laptops, until I finally got hold of a true X series thinkpad Tablet PC—I haven't looked back ever since. I've always avoided touchscreen netbooks, because of "Intel" Poulsbo GPUs with their terrible driver support. There were some netbook-sized Tablet PCs in Fujitsu-Siemens' Lifebook line, and I even tried P1510 for a while, but apart from terrible cooling, it had a resistive touchscreen with obscure drivers, rather than a proper Wacom digitizer.
The only x86 netbook, that I still want to try some day, is the legendary Sony Vaio P (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/vaio-p-doesnt-have-nothin-on-these-other-awesome-pocket-friend/).Show Image(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/1-12-09-vaio-p-pocket_1.jpg)Show Image(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/vaio-p-pockets-1.jpg)
Basically what has happened is that the firefox adblockers are using so much more CPU power these days..What add-ons do you use? ABP sucks hard.
I bought a Dell Mini 1011 a while back fully upgraded (except for SSD :( )
sadly I have been thinking about listing it...it made a great network bridge but haven't really done much otherwise.
convince me I am missing something ;)
is that with the N270 cpu ?
Yep, N270. I guess there was an option for the N280, I could check if I have it but too lazy to charge it up right now lol
Basically what has happened is that the firefox adblockers are using so much more CPU power these days..What add-ons do you use? ABP sucks hard.
Oh god, I remember the Acer eePC, a couple of my friends had those. They were cute, but I tried to type on them and it was a disaster, to say the least.
The keyboard was flimsy.
I used an MSI Wind as my main laptop for a year. I swapped the wireless card so that I could run OS X on it. Good times.
This is the clearest photo that I have of it. It's obvious that the main subject of this photo was the Realforce keyboard when I took :D
(Attachment Link)
Circa 2008, when running hackintoshes felt like as much work as running Linux back in 2000.
Occasionally i due tend to think why anyone would be into a certain impractical format, but then i have to remind myself of the impractical format's and devices i have an obsession with And that you dont necessarily have to have a real practical reason to have a soft spot for something.
Sometimes, you just like what you like, whether for sentimental value or just something about it makes you happy. It can be very difficult to explain liking something that's objectively not good. I've heard this sensation referred to as a "second kind of cool", meaning something just appeals regardless of whether it's objectively good.
I'm kind of rambling at this point because I just got a Blue Alps keyboard. Forgive me. :-X
Basically what has happened is that the firefox adblockers are using so much more CPU power these days..What add-ons do you use? ABP sucks hard.
also, it wasn't $200 like when they promised us it would be... it was more like $400
Here are the various modern 11.6in laptops I know of.
All of these have standard memory and drives which can be upgraded. None have fantastic battery life (2-3hours for most), some have large capacity batteries available, but not all. Some have a decent support forum, others do not. While listed by price, the order often coincides with availability. I didn't list ultrabooks, and by the time you cross $300 you start getting into new laptop range where some new convertibles and such start becoming available. Finding new laptops matching your criteria is FAR easier than finding older/used models that do, so I tend to keep a list of cool ones as I find them.
Low price (sub $200):
Lenovo X131E
These are cheap and plentiful. It has an 11.6in screen, however, this comes with 3 processor options, AMD, Celeron and an I3 (third generation), you really want the I3 version. I was unaware until today that it even had an I3 option. Like the Samsung it cannot be swapped with an I7, however, unlike the Samsung, these have USB 3, and are much easier to find. While I like the Samsung 300, if you are considering one, you might want to consider this instead, I would. Should support 8 or 16gigs of ram.
Samsung NP300U1A Princeton
This one I mentioned earlier, it's a nice little laptop. Second generation I3, matte screen... Only one ram slot, but can handle 8gigs. Has some actual metal fascia. No USB 3 is a downer.
Samsung NP900X1A
This is a higher priced, older version of the 300 above. It's a first generation I3 and some of this generation of Samsung seem to have Bios issues and if the bios fail, the laptop is dead. It's not common, and by now all the bad ones should be long dead, but I feel I should mention it. These are not exactly cheap, nor easy to find. While Samsung's are not that common, the bios issue may have made it worse. Again, non-upgradeable processor and this model only supports 2gigs. All in all, it's better than a real netbook, but the others here are all better choices, even the 300, which sold at half the price. On the other hand, these are a nice laptop with some aluminum on it, they were meant to directly compete with the Macbook Air.
Mid price ($200-$400):
Acer TravelMate b113
While the US version uses a Celeron, the Australian version has Celerons and a third generation I3 (possibly seconds as well). Glossy screen, typical Acer construction. I don't know much more about it. While not expensive, expect to pay a lot for shipping for an Australian version if you import it, shipping can cost as much as the laptop, putting it in what I consider mid-range. The Celerons are widely available, I3 versions are pretty rare. Should support 8 or 16gigs of ram.
Asus U24
These are very rare, not cheap, and there is a reason, they come in I3, I5 and i7 versions and support 16gigs of memory. I have been watching, waiting and bidding on these for around 6 months, I've seen 3 in that time, two needed work and even those broke $150 and parts are almost as difficult. As a result, you will want a complete one, not a damaged one you think you can repair.
High price (Over $400):
Alienware m11x
I7, Nvidia 335m graphics, backlit keyboard, easy to find... Not cheap, and far from being slim, but it's a little powerhouse. Battery life is probably terrible.
Acer Aspire S7
These hover around $400 going up from there. They come with third generation I5 and I7, beware, there is not only a 13in version, but also a Celeron version. Personally, I think this is one of the worst options on the list. While nice, it's an Acer, high priced, parts are non-existent.
Clevo w110er and Sager NP6110
These are insane, 3rd generation I7 (possibly lesser too) and have an Nvidia 650 graphics card in them. They also support 16gigs of ram. Now the bad... These are super hard to find, owners bought them for a reason and there is nothing to replace them. Keep in mind, all of that power is terrible for battery life, 2 hours may be a optimistic. These can still be found new ($1200+), and used ones can top $500 for a decent one and there are no parts available used... You can get new and used Ultrabooks for less and there are new small, 2in1 convertibles available for even less. Only the hardcore should really bother with these, but wow are they awesome.
Bonus 10.6in systems
Fujitsu LifeBook T580 - Tablet convertible (I.E. THICK and fragile), 1st gen processor. Usually Fujitsu are well made.
Gigabyte T1125N - 1st gen processor, probably the rarest on the list, I've never seen one for sale or in person. It's almost vaporware.
Surface Pro - If it breaks, buy another. Not a real laptop, haaaaard to upgrade.
For those looking for one, an Asus U24 just came up on Ebay.
Second Gen Core i7, 8gigs ram, 256gig ssd, Win 7... It's a tiny beast, but it comes at a price ($350), even with a slightly dented top.
Remember this will probably not run 8.1 or win10 any time soon, if ever.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-U24E-XS71-11-6in-i7-2640M-2-80GHz-8-GB-RAM-256-GB-SSD-Silver-/231845737198?hash=item35fb1532ee:g:8~IAAOSwB4NWwMKj
Update and something I may have missed on my mini Samsung...
The sound is horrible. It's so bad, I'm planning to open it and see if anything's wrong, seriously my cell phone sounds better (my cell has pretty good sound). In other news, I added 4 more gigs of ram (8gigs now) and a newer, more efficient 256gig ssd. It's noticeably faster and I hope it will break the 3.5 or 4 hour battery mark.
I also found some more laptops some of you may be interested in.
HP EliteBook 2170p - 3rd gen I5 or I7 (non-removable), 6 hour battery! 3.25 pounds (porky!). These run about $200.
ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E - I7, SSD, super thin, meant to compete with Macbook Air. These run around $300-$400 and are really nice.
Sony Pro 11 - Sub 2 pounds, 1080p IPS, (1.8in) SSD and carbon fiber construction. Unfortunately, it's hard to find, expensive, non-removable battery, and only 2 or 4gigs ram (soldered in). Expect to pay over $400, which really isn't that bad all things considered. Just remember, repairs are expensive too. I love Sony high end stuff, but when it breaks, it's a nightmare. I don't think these are made in Japan either like prior generation high end stuff, so it may not even be be true high end Sony quality, but it's still well made. That screen resolution is stupidly high for such a small screen, so I'm not sure how good it will be. This was designed to go head to head in every way with the Macbook Air, and win.
These last two are REALLY CHEAP (sub $100), have true netbook size screens (8.9in), are under 2.5 pounds with decent battery life. On the other hand, they are c2d, still far better than an Atom. The worst part is that they are convertible tablets, which I hate, but these could be a fun toy considering the price. I want one just to play with, even though I really have no use for it. Keep in mind that these probably use 1.8in drives.
Flybook V5 Ultraportable, hard to find, but can handle 8gigs of memory, which will probably cost more than the tablet.
Fujitsu LifeBook P1630, easy to find, 4+ hours battery (actual). Has only 1 ram slot so 4gigs is going to be the absolute max, but it may even have a 2gig limit.
Or you know x220Show Image(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/embarrassed3-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862502)
I have one of these, the i3 version.Low price (sub $200):
Lenovo X131E
These are cheap and plentiful. It has an 11.6in screen, however, this comes with 3 processor options, AMD, Celeron and an I3 (third generation), you really want the I3 version. I was unaware until today that it even had an I3 option. Like the Samsung it cannot be swapped with an I7, however, unlike the Samsung, these have USB 3, and are much easier to find. While I like the Samsung 300, if you are considering one, you might want to consider this instead, I would. Should support 8 or 16gigs of ram.
I love SFF computing, so the general concept of netbooks are interesting, but in practice they always fell short. They fit an incredibly odd space between laptops and tablets that never made too much sense. I can't even call it a niche really, since they excelled at no specific metric, and now the 2-in-1s are trying to obliterate what little space they operated in.
I will admit - they may actually be more viable now due to technology advances than they were several years ago.
One of our clients decided to use EeePC for their remote/mobile users a few years back.For over 2 years my *only* computer was an Asus 1001P (Part of the EeePC family). It was a lot quicker than the ~2003 HP laptop I'd been using. Additionally, it had great battery life, around 7 hours on full tilt, and even the keyboard and trackpad were an improvement.
..
The kind of put me off them - the keyboard was too small (I have fairly large hands, which probably didn't help), the screen was too small, and the whole thing was generally too slow (for continual reboots and restarts to repeatedly test everything).
I love SFF computing, so the general concept of netbooks are interesting, but in practice they always fell short. They fit an incredibly odd space between laptops and tablets that never made too much sense. I can't even call it a niche really, since they excelled at no specific metric, and now the 2-in-1s are trying to obliterate what little space they operated in.
I will admit - they may actually be more viable now due to technology advances than they were several years ago.
I believe SFF is actually a desktop term and not applicable to laptops.
I'd like to see a modern take on the Samsung NP300U1A that you mentioned previously - coupled with Thunderbolt 3 for connectivity to an external GPU via an applicable chassis (Razer Core / Asus ROG XG2 / etc), that could be a very potent device for portability that will still have some grunt when brought home.The closest thing to what you are looking for is the first generation Sony Z series that had the Core I in it.. It's a slim 13in with an I5 or I7, ssd, and had an external box with video card in it. I believe it provided 8x pcie-e. These were very expensive systems and years later, these systems can break $1000, and that's if you can find one, especially with the optional external card box. There was also a company a while back connecting one through the express port, while it got you more power, the Express Port is only 1x or 2x I believe, which severely limits the card you can use.
For five-year-old computer, it's still pretty decent to use on a daily basis. I use it as my main portable for now and have been pretty happy with it. An SSD and additional memory were pretty necessary.