Fellow netbook user, Thinkpad x120e, 6 gigabytes of RAM and a recent 256 gigabyte SSD (recommended!) make for a plenty capable machine. It used to last 6 hours, but could do with a new battery. And USB3 ports etc. but it generally flies.
Someone further down mentioned a beer-induced $800 repair on a MBA. I dropped half of mine in a sink of water (don't ask) and it works perfectly. Tested the 'splash proof' keyboard quite thoroughly.
Definitely a market for lower-end sub-$500 machines that are actually capable of running anything.
See, when I said that the Chromebook is the only true netbook that has ever existed, I meant that the term "netbook" implies that the device is configured to prioritize the use of a web browser over that of native apps. This is assuming that web applications offload their processing needs to a remote server, so the hardware can be lower power. That's where the "net" in netbook seems to come from.
In the sense of a true netbook-as-a-thin-client, the Chromebook is the only competitor in this market. What you have with 6GB of RAM and a large hard drive is a small form factor laptop. I agree that there's a market for lower-end cheap laptops. I disagree with calling them netbooks, because then you get confused posts with people asking what the point of a netbook is. The Chromebook is the point of a netbook.
I did pick up on that, but struggle to believe you genuinely believe that the term "netbook" originated from a concept of the browser-only system. I suspect you might be mangling the semantics to fit a product you like. The most likely origin of the term for me is the mass-media, recommending the lighter units for web-browsing as that's all they were capable of. This all before pads and tabs hit the big-time. Or, specifically not manufacturers intending to build browser-only systems.
Cue a few years of Moore's Law, and the net effect of a market for affordable yet usable portable machines produces capable, upgradeable machines. And tablets. Cue content producer/consumer distinction etc.
I was taking the term to the most extreme literal meaning, yes. Because to me, if a netbook is not designed almost exclusively for web-apps, it's not a netbook. It's an ultra-portable laptop, a category that has been around a lot longer than the EeePC.
Someone further down mentioned a beer-induced $800 repair on a MBA. I dropped half of mine in a sink of water (don't ask) and it works perfectly. Tested the 'splash proof' keyboard quite thoroughly.
Definitely a market for lower-end sub-$500 machines that are actually capable of running anything.