Tiny Little Netbooks

I try not to regret many things in life. I hold this aim very true, except for a couple of very bad choices in my youth. Outside of those specific experiences, I believe that the decisions I've made were the right ones given who I was and what I knew at the time.

Of all the places where I'm certain to not hold any regrets is when it comes to 'stuff.' Things bought and never used, things discarded only to be repurchased later. When it comes to 'stuff,' that's all it is—replaceable, unnecessary, and mostly meaningless.

Yet here I am, regretting having ever sold my 11-inch Macbook Air. That was the best computer I ever owned

Hear me out.

In 2019, as my aging Macbook Pro was failing, I decided to try an iPad Pro as my personal device. With Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard in tow, I thought I'd found my solution.

I was wrong. Office documents were a headache, file management was a nightmare, and app feature parity was laughable compared to desktop versions. The device itself was bulky, rarely fitting comfortably in my bags except for my Goruck GR1's laptop compartment.

Five years later, I switched to a used Thinkpad running Linux (Zorin OS) - one of my best tech decisions ever. But I still miss having a truly portable computing device for daily life.

My iPhone 13 mini? That's strictly a tool for communication and media consumption. I don't read or write on it beyond quick notes.

This is where that 11-inch Macbook Air shines in memory. It was so portable I'd forget it was in my bag until I needed to read or write. Small enough to carry everywhere, yet powerful enough to never feel limiting.

Recently, Patrick Rhone quipped:

"Remember when those tiny little netbooks were all the rage with the geeks and you could hack them with Linux and have a small cheap cute little underpowered laptop you could throw into a bag?

I kinda miss those."

That 11-inch Macbook Air was essentially my netbook. Now that I'm using Linux, I'm dreaming of another tiny computer - maybe another 11-inch Macbook running Linux, a modified Chromebook, or even an upgraded netbook.

I've spent the last month scouring Kijiji, Ebay, and FB Marketplace with a $100 budget. My requirements are simple: ideally 8GB RAM (will settle for 4GB), 32GB storage minimum, and an 11-inch screen. But finding the right device is proving challenging. Classic Eee PCs are expensive, ideal Chromebooks like the upgradeable Acer C710 are rare, and newer Chromebooks often fight Linux installation.

Alas, my search continues for my Goldilocks device.