Hmm, I think the potential for low power usage is much better with current chips. Pentium 4's and M's were quite power hungry no matter what speed they ran at,

Hmm, I think the potential for low power usage is much better with current chips. Pentium 4's and M's were quite power hungry no matter what speed they ran at, while Core 2 Duo, Sandy Bridge and especially Ivy Bridge chips can be both power hungry (at the highest multiplier/clock) and low power (if locked at the lowest multiplier), so you get the best of both worlds. That's why ULV chips are only used for special cases these days. In fact, a ULV Core 2 Duo is nothing more than a factory undervolted Core 2 Duo - you can significantly increase your battery life and reduce heat by undervolting (sadly, that's not possible anymore with Sandy and Ivy)...