One year ago (see this post for details of the 2007 Solar UMPC tour kit,) I was using the setup below for my mobile blogging and tracking.

This year, its a lot simpler. And a lot more powerful. Notice how the phone, GPS tracker and Camera have merged into one device. Yes, the N82 is a real boon. The N82 camera is not as good as the S2  (as expected) but the ability to auto-tag while tracking and then post the images directly to a server over the Internet is a massive advantage.

You’ll also notice a change in UMPC. I’m now using the Samsung Q1 Ultra (with XP and HSDPA) which has an SD slot (negating the need for any cables for the camera) and a much brighter, higher resolution screen. I’ve also moved to SSD rather than the traditional, spinning hard drive. Its safer. The keyboard (A Samsung Q1 keyboard) remains the same as there’s still nothing out there that can beat it. You’ll also see the USB LED lamp. Still, a key part of the kit!

Now lets look at the solar setup. This is the setup I used a year ago.

And this is the setup i’m going to use over the next four days while I go work/camping.

[The Wife and Kid are off camping together and I was due to stay home and work but I’ve decided to come along and make a working holiday of it. Dads – this is the beauty of Ultra Mobile PC’s!!!]

I’ve removed the lead acid battery from the kit and am now direct charging the Tablet Kiosk MP3400. It only charges during peak hours (one full charge per 100% sunny day here in mid-summer Germany) where the SLA battery charges during less sunny periods but the amount of energy you get in those few extra hours is minimal. I’ve chosen to drop the SLA battery and use the MP3400 direct on the Sunlinq 25W solar panel.

Here’s a post with more detail about using the two together. And a how-to video.

I’ll probably post a few solar computing thoughts while I’m away so stay tuned here for more. Weather is looking good!

 
Last year on the Solar UMPC tour.

We (that’s me, VIA and a PR company) had tried to plan a crossing-the-line press meeting today but as it turns out, everyone is at IFA and no-one was available. It was a little disappointing but seeing as it was raining, I’m not bitter! I took the chance to jump on a train home and start the process of writing-up the project. The first think to do was unpack those smelly socks and make sure I had everything listed for anyone that might be interested in the future. The gadget bags were the most important bit unless you want to see a picture of my wash bag. No? Thought not.

It was a well-refined 10-day gadget bag I had with me on the Solar-UMPC tour so as I unpacked a few hours ago, I took the opportunity to update the pack list (Google spreadsheet available here.) and take photos of the solar setup and the computing setup I used when I was out.

First, here’s the solar setup. Most of it is explained in previous posts (see this one and this how-to for example) but maybe this picture helps to simplify how I was using the devices.

The second picture shows the computing setup including the all-important gadget of the week, the USB LED lamp! The mobile phone and UMPC worked well together as a communication suite. The phone took primary role as email reader, music/radio and twitter interface with the UMPC performing the more creative roles with the map updates, blog entries, photo editing and geo-tagging.

The computing set-up was really good and apart from reducing cables and improving software, there isn’t much i’d change in terms of components. The solar setup will defaintely need improving though and as I mentioned in this post about the inefficiencies, I have already made some notes about how I would improve it. I’ll be going through my recommendations for the computing and solar setups in later posts.