Hi @javajosh, the mini12 use a pata/ide drive but in the peculiar form factor of 1,8' instead of the usual 2,5' hdd and with a IDE-ZIF 40pin interface.
so you can upgrade to any other kind of disk you like, also SSD ie. but you have to take care of the size (1.8) and of the interface (ide ZIF 40pin).
Have you then reinstalled that laptop? Have you had any kind of problem installing lxde on it? Which distro have you choosed?
cheers