The first laptop that I was truly happy with was my Acer Aspire One I bought in 2008 for $250. It had a 9" display, so slightly bigger than this GPD, but pretty close. With Gentoo Linux it was fast, and with Compiz wobbly windows it really looked like something from the future. One of the best parts was that it was so cheap that I didn't need to worry much about dropping or breaking it.
Eventually the solid state drive stopped working. It had some non-standard connection and it was going to cost $100 to replace, so in the end I just upgraded to a ThinkPad like a normal person. I like my ThinkPad, but it never brought me the same joy as that $250 netbook.
Yes, those 2008 generation of Netbooks, all w/ 1GB RAM and Intel Atom processors did a great job for their small size and low cost. I had a Dell Mini 9 I carried around everywhere and wrote 50% of my undergrad thesis on. This being a full laptop, I could install all my weird educational software and statistical packages on it.
OEMs ruined the form factor by stuffing the same specs into 11 and 12-inch screens, and jacking up the price.
To date, I still haven't owned a full computing device as satisfying as that. This was before tablets, and frankly even now, I find tablets cumbersome because you can't fold them shut like a netbook so it takes up a ton of space on a couch or bedside table.
Wow, I felt similarly about my Aspire One. There was something special about how tiny and portable it was. It was so nice to be able to comfortably bring it to work with my work laptop if I wanted to work on a side project during lunch, and it travels well in coach. These days my Surface Pro 6 fills that role.
Eventually the solid state drive stopped working. It had some non-standard connection and it was going to cost $100 to replace, so in the end I just upgraded to a ThinkPad like a normal person. I like my ThinkPad, but it never brought me the same joy as that $250 netbook.