Page created:
August 2023
 
Last updated:
May 2026

Many people began their computing and interneting experience at home on a netbook; a small, lightweight and generally cheaper version of a laptop; you might have fond memories of using such devices.

They gained "popularity" through the Windows XP and Vista era, with the latter's Basic offering seemingly being ideal, along with Windows 7 Basic after that.

This wasn't my early experience of them though. As a computer technician I would often get called upon to "speed up" such devices, only to have to (often) explain to the owner that "sorry, but your device only has 1GB of RAM, this isn't enough, and it can't be upgraded." With no upgrade path and lacking sufficient RAM from new, I considered these devices to be a con, mis-sold to an unwitting public.

Fast forward to 2023 2026 and I have a Dell Latitude 3190, featured above, in regular use. It's small and reasonably rugged, with a typical sturdy Dell power jack, good battery, and rubberised edges. It lacks a touchscreen which my earlier Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 10 had, and the SSD and RAM are fixed at 64GB and 4GB respectively. It originally had Windows 10 installed but I elected to install Linux Mint xfce which runs well enough, as long as I don't open too many browser tabs at once. For security reasons I installed Mint with drive encryption, partly so I don't have to worry about the laptop falling into the wrong hands if I take it out-and-about with me, but also because that drive is fixed, if the laptop becomes faulty I can't simply remove any SSD that might have personal data on.

Ultimately, I like netbooks for being low powered (~45W) and in the case of the Dell, and Lenovo I used to have, they are fanless and thus silent.

The small screen size, however, make these less than ideal for full-time use in my experience, although I have tried - I am convinced that they can help curb distractions due to the small screen and low power restricting the ability/tendency to "multi-task".

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Notes: After the Linux mint install:

In Mouse and Touchpad, enable 'Tap touchpad to click'.

Change Power Manager settings to Shutdown with the power button

Connect to Wi-Fi and click the shield in the taskbar to check for system updates (there'll be a lot the first time around).

I prefer a dark theme to match the laptop's aesthetic and provide a calmer feel that is more suited to using the device in a dark environment, rather than a bright vibrant workspace.

Download and install your preferred software from the Software Manager:

 - Firefox and LibreOffice are included.

Note: Some applications are available as either a Flatpak (Flathub) or System Package; the latter generally seem to be smaller downloads but are perhaps not the most recent versions.

 - Audacious music player (it can be set up with a Winamp-style theme)
 - VLC Media Player
 - Stellarium (for astronomy)
 - GIMP (image editor)
 - Audacity (audio editor)

Uninstall what you don't use; this has the benefit of reducing the number updates but care must be taken to not remove things that are actually required.

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2023: As of this year I had a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 10 in regular use, an Advent 4211-B  for running the Webcam feature (I still do but I have more recently set up a Raspberry Pi for this), and a HP Pavilion Touchsmart 10-E that I didn't do anything with beyond installing ZorinOS on.

The build-quality of the Lenovo was poor and the plastics around the hinge started to break, the track pad temperamental, and the charge socket was already broken when I acquired the device and my repair wasn't wholly successful, and the battery no longer as good as it was, so I sold it on. It had been handy as a small laptop though, especially with its touchscreen. The HP Pavilion became faulty and wouldn't boot.

These devices I had found individually on ebay at cheap prices due to them having various issues.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 10 - Originally with Windows 8 but now with Windows 10  - 4GB RAM (max.)  - Hard drive replaced with an SSD  - No ethernet socket  - Great battery*, nice touch screen, but not the easiest to work on; It came to me with a broken power socket which was difficult to repair being fixed to the mainboard (it's still fragile) and the USB sockets are also problematic. The plastic casing is cracking in various places. I like the ability to fold the screen back as per the picture above (it doesn't fold all the way back though) and I often use it like this. This netbook can just about cope with playing Youtube videos, but the audio isn't great. The system has no fan so while it is nice and quiet, it does get warm with the likes of Youtube. The right mouse button is faulty on mine making some tasks awkward.   *I have now elected to sell this Netbook on as spares/repairs as the battery no longer holds sufficient charge and the mousepad's buttons became increasingly problematic.

Advent 4211-B - Windows XP  - Only an Intel Atom CPU  - I use mine to host the Webcam. The screen has damaged patches around some of the edges so I've had to reposition the taskbar to the top of the screen where it is legible. The battery holds no charge in mine. I think I had to replace the keyboard... It's also missing a plastic hinge cover.

HP Pavilion Touchsmart 10-E - I have replaced the original hard drive with an SSD and installed Zorin OS Lite on it due to this netbook having a fixed 2GB of RAM. It was sold to me with Windows 10 on it and I was lead to believe the previous owner had simply forgotten their password to log in. However, upon receiving it I realised the keyboard was non-UK and also faulty (leading to the password being mistyped). I tried repairing it with the view of putting some stickers on the keys, but I was unsuccessful and had to source a replacement top panel. Sadly the battery also holds no charge although replacements are available. Like the Lenovo, it has no cooling fan.