I wish someone made netbooks again.
GPD: https://www.gpd.hk/product
One Netbook: https://1netbook.com/
Both companies typically launch new products with a kickstarter/promo on Indiegogo, to generate buzz, then sell through retail channels such as DroiX: https://droix.net/ and Ali Express.
Support is ... well, it's what you'd expect for a smallish Chinese company launching via a kickstarter. On the other hand, their machines are fairly well-designed and well-made (for products from a smallish Chinese etcetera): I'm currently running a One Netbook One Mix 4, a 10" ultrabook (quad-core i7, 16Gb RAM, 1Tb SSD) with about the same footprint as an old Asus Eeee PC 1000, but much much thinner, lighter, and more powerful -- it works fine.
I can comment on the ergonomics of the GPD MicroPC, which I got a few days ago and have been using ever since: it's awesome. I can do about 50 wpm on the thumb keyboard, which I'm sure is as good as I ever got on those tiny EeePC keyboards. It's very satisfying to hold and use, and it comfortably supports a full Plasma desktop. Look no further for a pocket laptop.
I used to have an Apple “MacBook” which at 2 lbs (900 g) was great for carrying around, flying all over the world, etc. As I develop in Emacs, development was great, though complication was slow; I’d often compile in the cloud. It was a great machine. I use an m1 air these days which is half a pound heavier and is a great development machine.
Despite what I said about crappy virtual keyboards I am typing this comment on about 450 g of ipad.
Actually, let's try it:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
while(1) {
printf("All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!\n");
}
}
It looks cool, but a bit casual.
What killed the netbook was the ultrabook -- similar weight and battery life, but with a larger display and full size keyboard.
Now you can get a reasonable entry level laptop for more or less the same price, so, even if the name is no longer a thing, the product is still quite available.
My Asus S6 is also quite alright (with a keyboard case).
If I would be starting from scratch today I would probably get an Air or a Surface.
I remember trying to buy an eeePC in a computer store and when I said it is for programming the guy there didn't want to sell me one but tried to sell me a 17" monstrosity. But I needed it for travel and to do office and coding work and most of the time I used SSH to a more powerful PC anyway.
The only stupid thing was that Microsoft artificially limited netbooks to low resolution and low RAM. You could apparently either build a netbook, or a fully-featured laptop, but not a small-format laptop without getting some kind of license penalty. Same a couple of years later when Intel and MS mandated that Ultrabooks have glossy touchscreens and motion sensors and could be maxially X mm thick.
My EePC was better than what I have now, at least it had a matte screen and 12 hours battery life with a replacement battery, but unfortunately was stolen.