Netbooks are being subsumed by laptops, as laptops get smaller. Several of the "ultrabooks" are thinner and lighter than my old Dell Mini 9. The 11" models are perfectly acceptable "netbooks", they just don't call them netbooks anymore because that was an indicator that it was kind of a crappy computer, but was small and cheap and good enough for browsing the web. The cost is getting closer to netbooks, as well, though I guess the really thin and light laptops are still pretty pricey...they will converge fully eventually.

In short, tablet has taken the place of the "crappy tiny laptop", and the modern good laptop has gotten closer to the size of the crappy tiny laptop without being crappy. The sweet spot for the netbook has shrunk to the point where it almost doesn't exist anymore, and thus there are no netbooks.

And frankly, MS and Intel basically made it this way.

Both freaked when the netbook first hit. Intel because they could make for a passable citrix client and so undermine their lucrative ultraportable segment. MS because it was Linux on a off the shelf product.

So what we got was some very stringent spec requirements from the two to make a underperforming mini-laptop running Windows XP (remember that MS was trying to sell Vista at the time).

What looked like a interesting experimental market (one early model had a thumb sized touchpad sitting near the screen hinge rather than a touchpad below the keyboard) ended up another pile of rebranded clones.

But even the 11" models cant replace tablets. Imagine a scenario, you are travelling in a train or a bus-you cant open the 11" laptop/netbook, while traveeling. And as far as the debate about tablets replacing desktop goes, that might be possible when tablets get stronger/better processors

There are plenty of 2-in-1 Windows laptops where the tablet is completely detachable from the keyboard. Some are very popular, like the Asus Transformer T100 wiht a 10.1inch screen. (Yes, Asus launched an Android version years ago.)

There are other Windows laptops where the screen folds back to provide a slightly heavier tablet, like the Lenovo Yoga 2 series and the HP11 x360.

Windows 8.1 tablets can support USB keyboards and full-size screens. Hook them up to a expanison hub and they can support multiple screens. I wouldn't recommend one as a desktop replacement, but then, I wouldn't recommend a MacBook Air as a desktop replacement either.

Makes me wonder how well a updated Fujitsu U1010 would do today.

We used to have quite a few nice, small machines. The one of the Psion Series 5 was amazing for the size. I had an HP Windows CE machine that was only a little bigger and the keyboard was even better. Lack of USB, SD and Wi-Fi rather limits their usefulness nowadays ;-)

Errr... "The one of the Psion Series 5" should be "The keyboard of the Psion Series 5...". Sorry,

Why is an HP Stream (for example) not a cheap replacement for a 10-inch netbook? It's a lot faster, has better graphics, has a better screen resolution, and actually costs less.

the Asus X205 is amazing bang for the buck

I got some older model (no touch screen, dual-core and only 1GB of ram) and it is indeed amazing. Perfect for work anywhere, when you put a lightweight Linux distro on it.

If Linux or ChromeOS is an option, a Chromebook might do. Other than that it is indeed difficult to find anything.