I purchased a new computer for my son this Christmas. I love the brand name as it immediately conveys the primary differentiator and in my family’s case, the key deciding factor. It is an example of a great brand name because of its simplicity and directness: TouchSmart.

You see, my 20 year-old son is severely autistic and low-functioning.  While he can’t talk, type, or dress himself, he does know what he likes to do: play basketball and eat hamburgers. So when we purchased a small hand-held PDA with a touchscreen a couple of years ago, we were amazed at how quickly he became a whiz at navigating all the screens  to find his favorite activities.  And it made no difference where we hid those basketball or hamburger icons, Mikey could quickly navigate through all the different layers of menus until he found them.

So when we decided to purchase a new desktop PC to replace his old, tried-and-true Dell XP machine, that touchscreen was right at the top of the features we were looking for.

We’ve now had the new HP TouchSmart computer for just a few weeks and Mikey loves it.  Not only can he manipulate menus and scroll through different options with just quick and easy touches, but he is discovering new applications like the built-in fingerpaint program. A paint program he can use by just touching and dragging  his fingers on the screen.

Now while this computer may not be for everyone, I certainly think many would agree that at least its name is easy to understand and sets it apart from most of the other PCs on the market today.  And if you’re in the market for a new desktop PC, well, I’d recommend that you at least give this one a look.