We have been following a story in the news here on VIA Arena over the last week or so about Steve "Chippy" Paine who runs UMPCPortal.com who has been traveling across Germany on a bike outfitted with solar panels to charge his Samsung Q1b UMPC. UltraMobileLife.com have taken the time to shoot him a few questions about the trip and the hardware he used:"There's a huge difference between a regular laptop and a power-optimised UMPC. Take, for example, this core 2 duo laptop sitting on the desk next to me (it's my wifes!) If I was to set it up for battery optimised usage I could probably get it down to 12 or 13 watts drain. The moment I start using it however, the processor kicks into action and before you know it you're draining 20 watts from the battery. The Q1b, in comparison can drop to an amazing 6 watts when idle and stay under 10 when being used for simple operations. Thats half the power utilisation of a modern laptop. But its not just about watts. The weight and size play an important role."
Read the full interview here.