Although realize that any Android device can run Termux (it doesn’t even require root), which gives the user a full text-based Linux environment where you can program away to your heart’s content. It works with external keyboards, but you can also use the onscreen keyboard (the app can optionally show buttons for things like control and tab which aren’t normally on screen keyboards).
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I still have my EeePC 701. I got one of the first ones, and I loved it. I’m pretty particular about my Linux installs, so I wiped it and ran my own trimmed down installs. At this point, it’s run a couple versions of Slackware, Debian Jesse, and I just picked it up again to mess with recently, so now it’s running NetBSD 9.1.
It’s small enough to fit in my motorcycle side cases, and it’s been my link to the virtual world on some great adventures. (IIRC, the Debian Jesse install was to modernize its software for the first Lemons Rally 5 years ago.)
It’s also got a microsd card slot, so it’s been a workhorse for playing with raspberries pi and similar boards.
I need to refurbish the battery and maybe get a second SSD for it and take it on more adventures.
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Netbooks changed education - they were the first affordable 1:1 portable device (the iPad and Chromebook now occupy this space).
Our school system provided Photoshop in the standard software package for schools, but this wouldn’t run on a netbook’s tiny screen (the vertical resolution wouldn’t fit the toolbar or something) so there was a hack to enable a virtual desktop bigger than the actual screen that you could scroll the viewport around in - just to run Photoshop on, which you can imagine was next to useless on that sort of hardware…
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THIS!!
I used an EeePC back in the day when I was consulting. Came in extremely handy for switch and storage hardware configuration. I still have it, but the Battery has long gone the way of the dodo.
Like a few other people have commented, I now use a chromebook for the same functionality
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Hello,
Lenovo still sells a derivative of its ThinkPad X100e netbook called the ThinkPad 11e. These are targeted towards the K-12/primary school education market, so the specs are pretty basic, but they are also pretty rugged. The latest one uses an Intel m3 CPU intended for low-end devices, and previous generations have had various other lower-performing CPUs (Intel Celeron, Pentium, AMD E350, etc.). Still, if you’re looking for something in that 11.6" form-factor this could be a good choice.
There are Chromebook and Windows versions, and the two are not switchable so be sure to get the correct one for your needs. They can be found used on eBay starting around $100. I think a new current generation model is about $400-500. Note that unlike “regular” ThinkPads, these don’t have the TrackPoint pointing stick.
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I had an Asus EEE because I did most of my work from my desktop computer at home but needed something portable to plug into classroom projectors for slideshow lectures. Even if I had a tablet computer at the time I don’t know if I could have hooked it up to a VGA cable.
It also had more than enough power to handle 1990s games so I was able to spend several weeks stuck sitting in the hospital NICU playing “StarCraft.”
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Maybe it’s time to look into a small chromebook. The google aspect of it scares me a bit. I could probably wipe it clean and install a normal linux on it, but I’m so tired of all the manual work that takes. Or more of the research needed in advance (before buying) to know which ones can be wiped clean of google’s spyware without completely breaking.
I couldn’t get myself to spend the time.
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