As the cheap-laptops-for-kids market is now brimming with overkill, yesterday Samsung announced its next iteration of the Q1 Ultra, which is neither cheap nor exactly a laptop but proudly jumps on the Eee PC–rival bandwagon, according to U.K. gadget blog Pocket-lint. The company will gear this version of the Window Vista–running, touchscreen UMPC toward educational markets, but it’s only slated for a U.K. release thus far.

If it’s competing for some of Asus’ mini-notebook market share, this contender probably won’t make much of a splash on this side of the pond: It’s selling for £399, or about $800—drastically cheaper than previous Q1 Ultras but a $300-plus premium over other mini-notebooks. It does have a few unique selling points for this growing market, though.

The OLPC XO and Intel’s Classmate PC are built for tiny paws, but you certainly wouldn’t put a Q1 into the hands of a sixth grader. The Q1 also one-ups the Eee PC by sporting a touchscreen display, and it probably beats out Everex’ CloudBook in, well, everything. But cost is a mountain of a trade-off. We’re not sure how many British academies will be able (or want) to dish out for such a pricey educational accessory; then again, we have seen more useless stateside efforts. But hey, it’s for the children.

Pocket-lint via Engadget