Windows 8 is designed with touch in mind, but the big problem is that most PCs today don't have touchscreens. That looks to be changing, with Samsung unveiling its Series 5 Ultra laptop, which brings touch to an accessible price point.
The Series 5 Ultra looks like your typical Windows machine -- with a 13.3-inch screen and packing an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard disk -- but the screen makes it special. It's a capacitive touchscreen enabled for 10-finger touch (what's required for Windows 8), and the touchpad supports Windows 8 gestures, too.
Fancy touch tech comes at a price, though, but in this case it doesn't affect the cost so much as the weight. Adding touch to the Series 5 Ultra bumps up the weight by about half a pound, making the total weight 3.83 pounds.
This being a Windows 8 machine, the Series 5 Ultra includes the S Launcher, Samsung's take on the old start menu. If you're nervous at all about losing this familiar Windows 7 feature, it's back, sort of, in all of Samsung's Windows 8 PCs.
The Samsung Series 5 Ultra touchscreen laptop costs $899, but you can get it configured with a less-robust Intel Core i3 chip for just $799. It'll be on sale on the launch date for Windows 8, Oct. 26.