For touring, I decided to go with a netbook that supports USB "Sleep-And-Charge". That's either the Toshiba brand or generic term for it...Dell may have something called Powershare that is similar. I got the NB305.

It allows me to charge my cell phone via a a specialized USB port even if the computer is sleeping, hibernating or even powered off! Only the newest sleep-and-charge chipsets support the powered-off capability. This feature gives me a large backup battery for the cell phone, a Motorola Droid in my case. The droid has a similar high-amperage charging requirement as the iPhone 3GS does, so what works for a Droid may work for both older and newer iPhones as well. In addition, the droid and netbook combination can be used for campsite internet access for email or for pushing out photos/video taken during the day.

I'm going to investigate whether an e-werk/hub combination, which arrived today from starbike, will be able to charge the netbook when it is powered off during the day or if I'll need to supplement with solar and/or cafe powerup stops.