• jerd@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I had used computers back since I was a kid in the 90s with my families 95 then 98 machine, and finally XP. But MY first computer and introduction to tinkering with software was an EEE pc 1005HAB. Atom processor, 2gb ram, and WiFi. I loved the thing. Best of all, I discovered it had compatibility (but not power) to run TF2 on it, which was so much better on PC than console. I spent hours finding ways to overclock it, mod the game to be as lightweight as possible, and eventually was able to play a game at a solid 30 fps so long as I played on the smallest map and used models that were only 50 polygons each. I installed Linux for the first time too, and so of course the next logical step was building my own pc. The rest is history I suppose…

  • wolf@lemmy.zip
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    11 months ago

    Had an Eee PC and it was great for its time. It was a later version, I think a 100X with an Intel Atom and 2GB of RAM. I used different Linux distributions on it (could order it w/o operating system in my country) and was quite happy with it, although it was slow (but not painfully so).

    Funnily enough, a few months back I bought an HP Stream 11" in a sale, which I am using to type this right now. Depending on your use case, and your willingness to run Linux, I can really recommend the HP Stream 11". Initially I just bought it as a cheap travel option (in this role it performed absolutely perfectly), surprisingly I use it also at home for surfing/watching/emails every day, although for work I use a more powerful machine and a bigger display.

    What really is crazy for me, that nowadays a HP Stream 11" offers a much better user experience than an Eee PC back then, IMHO thanks to better browser optimizations and ZRAM on Linux.

  • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    I was the build engineer that assembled the OS for these things between 2008-2010. It was a Debian based Linux distro with a custom built desktop and other custom built software, and it my memory serves my right, it was using the IceWM window manager.

    • Kilnier@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      That was my first real experience with Linux!

      My little brother bought one open box from Best Buy. Somehow it didn’t have keyboard or trackpad drivers? Not even external usb would work.

      Ended up putting Ubuntu on it for him I believe. Fun learning experience.

      • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        LoL yeah, I had a couple. A 10" and a 7". I ended up putting Ubuntu on there as well with xfce. It was perfect for streaming and doing a few web tasks. The hardware was crap though.

        You could buy one with Windows XP back then but boy was it terrible.

  • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    11 months ago

    For a hot minute, I had a 9-inch screen Dell laptop that could barely run Windows 7.

    These small form factor PCs were pretty cool at the time, I remember loving the little thing.

    • jasondj@ttrpg.network
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      11 months ago

      A good stepping stone product, but netbooks weren’t destined to last long. Beyond the rosie tint of nostalgia, it was a pretty impractical device. Good enough display for DVD video, but no dvd drive or enough onboard storage to handle a selection of movies (at an acceptable encoding for the time, at least). Big enough to require a flat surface or a lap to type on but not powerful enough to justify it, and a very cramped typing surface at that.

      Eventually they got replaced by tablets/convertibles, large phones, and ultrabooks. And all much better platforms in all ways, IMO.

      • Diplomjodler@feddit.de
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        11 months ago

        At the time there was no other way to get on the internet on the move than this except laptops which were really expensive then. This thing with a USB UMTS modem was just the coolest shit.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Lol, Dell had a tiny laptop in the late 90's,was pretty slick. External CD and floppy. Ran NT4 great, and Win2k pretty well from what I recall.

      HP had their "book" series then (850/650?), with a pop-out mouse. LOVED that thing. Ran 95, I think. Two PCCARD hot swap bays, double stack, so you could run 2 hard drives.

  • Decipher0771@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    My 701 with 2gb ram and extended battery still works. I used to go wardriving with that thing!

  • raptir@lemdro.id
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    11 months ago

    I loved my eee 1000. For about a year it was my only computer after my desktop died. It didn't run Windows very well but Arch (btw I don't use arch anymore) ran great with Xfce. But a 3lb laptop with 6 hour battery life was unheard of at the time.

  • Hiko0@feddit.de
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    11 months ago

    They were unbearably slow even back then. I returned my 1000H with its Atom N270 after a day and saved a little more money until I was able to afford a 2008 MacBook. Never regretted it. On the contrary, this marked my complete move to MacOS which saved me from continuing to use Windows.

    • wolf@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      Had a 100X EEE PC, for my use cases they where totally usable, but of course I installed Linux with a lightweight desktop environment on them. It was even possible to run Docker containers and virtualize Windows XP.

    • JustARegularNerd@aussie.zone
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      11 months ago

      I still have my 1000H from 2010 and even used it for school and uni right up until 2019 when I no longer was doing on campus work and I could do everything on my desktop.

      Granted, I went down the rabbit hole of Linux on it around the 2015 mark because Windows 7 onwards was too much for it, and it always had overheating issues, but it aided my Linux addiction and was the very laptop that got me interested in programming so I personally am happy I kept it.

      That being said, I also totally get why a MacBook was just a much better value propositions, and if mine wasn't my 10th birthday present I probably would've loved doing the same thing.

  • johnthedoe@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    These would be great once arm chips become more of a thing on PC. Love the form factor.

    I wish Apple would bring the 11” MacBook Air back again. I still occasionally look to pick an old one up for fun but never pulled the trigger.

    • JustARegularNerd@aussie.zone
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      11 months ago

      I'm in the same boat, really wanting a 2015 11" MBA to go with my 2015 13" MBP, but ultimately I decided on fixing up a 12" Latitude 7280 I got from e-waste (looked to be water damaged, keyboard was unreliable and battery would die at 40%). So far it's been pretty great, and will likely entirely replace my MBP while also being more convenient to carry around.