Need new (cheap) notebook

[Robert Moskowitz]

More things are acting up on my 4 year old HP nc2400, so I am looking at 
alternatives.

The NC2400 is REALLY a notebook, measuring 8.5" x 11" closed and having 
a 12" screen.  But it is old bios and somethings do not seem to work right.

I guess the target OS is F12/13 with battery life ~8 hours.  60Gb of 
disk is enough, and probaby 2Gb of memory (that is what I have now).

One other consideration is I HATE thumb pads; no control.  I prefer the 
'eraser head' that my HP has (and I have had on all of my notebooks 
since IBM invented it).

Any experience/recommendations?