Can you narrow down the requirements for "cheap" and "small"?

Cheap: <$300.
Small: <12'

Also, one other requirement:
The computer must have a battery and be usable without having to be tethered to a power source. (Otherwise, why get a laptop?)

I had an EEE PC for a while that was linux based. Looks like they've moved over to Windows now.

Maybe someone knows move about their current offerings?

Hey, Baldur's Gate bro, how's it going? I read that there are some Chromebooks where you can install some version of Linux, maybe these could suit you, but I don't know more so you look into it.

Oh and could you give your opinion on the "Solaufein bug" "give credit" talk we're having with Hickory on the BG forums, I'd like to hear what others think of the issue.

A couple things:

1. I am not a "bro", so please don't call me one. (Did you miss my forum title?)

2. To be honest, I don't actually like the Baldur's Gate series that much. Among other things, I find that real time with pause combat just doesn't work, as it combines the worst aspects of turn based and real time combat, while lacking both the rhythm of turn based combat and the fluidity of real time combat. The problem, to my understanding, is having to go through an extra screen (a warning about developer mode) on every boot. Maybe I will in a moment.

I've had success in installing Linux on several different HP laptops. If you don't mind a slightly older model, the HP Mini 5103 is solid. Alpha appears to be based in Florida due to the business phone number they give at the bottom. Clicking on "Job Opportunities" on the bottom makes that rather clear as they indicate a preference for Florida residents :)

Lenovo has cheap equipment that provides nice performance.

I have a Lenovo b570 laptop that matches your description. Maybe a little bigger than 12', but got it for a very affordable price (about 250 €, it was some years ago) and with no preinstalled OS but FreeDOS. I did, however, expand its RAM to 4 GB. I use it with Ubuntu and works fine.
I mainly used it for programming (as it was not powerful, made me better at efficiently optimizing code) and watching movies and series (I still use it for that, as I haven't written a line of code for a long time...)

What do you mean HP touchpads not working?! I am using one right now typing this and did not connect any mouse.

Also, what about the unnecessary necroing? Hmm, I guess this is kind of an always relevant topic.

I assume it is some form of spam. If you hover over the link, it goes to babasupport[.]org, which seems shady if looking at search results for the name (not even considering the URL). Whois tells me the domain is registered at GoDaddy from Dubai without any further information about the registrar, which again indicates a scam. I have no intention to actually visit the page to confirm my suspicions.

Furthermore the user is completely new and has necroed a random thread.

And to add more anecdotal evidence: I have an HP laptop as well with Linux on it and the touchpad works.

Let us then send them into oblivion by reporting as spam. You are right, the link is indeed a dead giveaway. I also never follow those anymore; burnt enough times before.

When it comes to small screen laptops I would advise caution, do your research and if possible see what kind of upgrades it can take. Manufacturers have dumbed them down massively.

I have an Acer E3-112 11" model which can take a standard 2.5" SSD and 8GB Removable Ram, I bought that about 2 years ago for 300€, the laptops of today for the same price range have almost everything soldered on the board without possible upgrade.

Also I would steer clear of cheap Lenovo laptops, their material is weak and crap, very prone to break especially around the hinges and back part of the body. More than half of the modern laptops I receive at work are Lenovo. A shame considering how the old models were rock solid.

My friend has a Windows 10 mini-notebook with a soldered 32GB storage chip. Windows 10 takes 30GB out of that when NEW.... totally idiotic setup.