Still Got Your Netbook?

[Ray MacDonald]

I have two of them actually - both date from the time of the netbook craze about 4 years ago. Both are underpowered and memory challenged but they were designed to run Linux so they both still work quite well. The first one - Acer Aspire One has only 512 MB of RAM but has very Linux friendly graphics and wifi.That was my original netbook and went on lots of holidays with me.
The second one I'm posting from right now. It's a Dell Mini 12 and has a nicer screen and keyboard. My daughter owned it until she got a real notebook and later an iPad. It also ran Linux out of the box but Dell chose some very Linux unfriendly wifi and graphics and had to kludge their version of Linux to get it to run properly.
I've replaced the original operating systems in both machines. The Acer will run just about any light distribution but right now it's got Bodhi Linux (based on Ubuntu.) The original Dell distro was Ubuntu 8.04 but Dell's unupgradable kludged version. I looked long and hard for something better that would work with its ugly GMA500 graphics and Linux unfriendly wifi and finally found Mandriva 2010 version 2. It worked perfectly after its installation and that's what I have now.
I'm just getting the Mini 12 updated and ready to go on holidays in a month or so.

[vegasvince]

I still have my acer aspire one. I still kinda prefer using it over a tablet.

[gettingstarted]

I still got my asus eepc but it's just sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust. ipad+logitech tablet keyboard can handle most of my browsing/light work needs.

[davemill]

Hi have the mini 10. Haven't used it much as it is just to take on trips where storage is a problem.

[GinGinD]

I never got caught up in the netbook thing. I have a notebook and a smart phone. I'd like to get a tablet at some point. Netbooks just don't fill a niche for me.

Jeannie

[Ray MacDonald]

Well I only use them for holidays as they are easy to pack and if I'm in a hotel I get free wifi.
The major reasons we got them was to experiment with machines that came with Linux pre-installed. Linux works great on these machines because has a small memory footprint, doesn't slow down with prolonged usage and doesn't need a lot of antivirus and anti-malware apps that rob the CPU of its limited power. The Windows version of the Mini 12 used Vista which was brutal.
However as it turned out the original Linux installs were pretty bad and I had to replace them anyway. I'm used to doing this on older hardware and a netbook is like having a 2002 era notebook.

[DragonDan]

Yes, I've owned the Dell mini 9 (ubuntu) when it came out, and then a handful of Asus eee pc (can that name get any worse...). I am currently tearing apart my most current Asus 1005HAB to put in a 120GB SSD, and repair the dumb power jack that has worn out. It's already got 2GB of good Kingston ram, so it will be interesting to see how the SSD changes its performance. I don't expect much, but it'll be fun.
I actually bought an Asus Transformer Prime, but sold it after a couple weeks. I like netbooks with real keyboards better.

[stndrdtime]

I've never had a netbook, but have been looking a bit at the new "ultrabooks" and "chromebooks". I was thinking of getting a tablet for travel purposes, but the small size and light weight of these new ultra/chrome books, plus the benefit of a keyboard, seem to be a more attractive option.

[GinGinD]

Well I only use them for holidays as they are easy to pack and if I'm in a hotel I get free wifi.

I can see where that would be useful. I don't travel much though.

Jeannie

[Popoki Nui]

I've used up two netbooks: a Toshiba NB205 and an Asus 101MT with touch and swivel screen. Windows 7 starter in the Toshiba failed and wouldn't boot, and it cost as much to have that fixed as to buy a new netbook. So I got the Asus, because my Asus A8J laptop has been such an incredible machine. The 101MT lasted two years and fell apart. No more netbooks for me. I'll stick with my trusty old A8J laptop and for travelling, my iPad.