Or you can pick up Intel Atom based mini-itx boards in the $50-60 range. Throw it in a cardboard box with a laptop supply. You'd still need a keyboard/mouse/vga, ha ha. But these will boot linux from usb easily. I use one here as a home-server booting Ubuntu from flash stick.
Ha ha, love it!
BTW looks like liots of netbooks on craigslist in the $50-100 range.
Saving, saving, saving...(doing it the old fashioned way, Eff visa!)