Merely weeks after Dell offered its long-awaited Latitude E6400 ATG up for sale, one of said units has been procured, unboxed and briefly tested by the laptop lovers over at NotebookReview. Initial impressions are that it’s quite heavy (expected for a tough cookie such as this), built Ford tough and made to be used in broad daylight. The keyboard showed slight flex and a somewhat disheartening layout, though the touchpad was “very smooth” and the buttons had “excellent action.” We won’t spoil the first batch of benchmark results for you, so you’ll have to wander on down to the read link for that and a handful of other pics.

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While the Vostro 2510 might be Dell’s primary bid for dual-use small business computers, that doesn’t mean they have to keep beating the rest of the Vostros with the ugly stick. The new Vostro A860 and A840 feature spiffed up looks and aggressive prices for emerging markets. Unfortunately, “emerging markets” means we won’t be getting these in the States for the time being. Both laptops are naturally light on specs, with 1GB of RAM, 160GB or 120GB hard drives, CD or DVD burners, WiFi and optional Bluetooth. The 15.6-inch A860 sports an “HD” resolution, while the 14.1-inch A840 runs at WXGA. Processors range from Celeron to Core 2 Duo, both laptops can be outfitted with Vista or Ubuntu, and they both weigh in around 5 pounds. Oh, and if you’re more of a desktop sort, Dell is also offering the new Vostro A180 and A100 desktops, with the A180 offering a range of specs and both OS choices, while the A100 sticks with an Intel Atom processor and Ubuntu. No word on price for any of these yet, since pricing will vary from country to country, but we might be looking at a new low for Dell in both categories.

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Look, we know you’ve spent the last three or so hours toying around on Dell’s build-to-order page, but be honest with yourself — are you really willing to pull the trigger on an Inspiron 13 without taking one tiny peek at a review first? NotebookReview has snagged one of the new 13-inchers and taken it for a ride on the test bench, and overall, things are lookin’ up. Reviewers found the design to be “sleek,” the specifications to be “reasonable” and the price point “attractive.” Beyond that, it also found the battery life to be surprisingly satisfactory, though the “cheap palm rests and noisy slot-loading optical drive” were small (albeit noteworthy) nuisances. In the end, critics summed things up by suggesting that if you’re scouting “a basic mobile companion with good looks and a low price tag, then this is probably the right notebook for you.” Hit up the read link for the full writeup and even a few benchmarks.

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Hey, look — another cart before the horse scenario! Long after coming to grips with the fact that Lenovo was indeed producing an IdeaPad S9 and S10, the netbook(s) have surfaced in the FCC’s lair. Interestingly, the User Guide looks to tackle both machines in one fell swoop, suggesting that there’s not enough difference to warrant the writing of two whole pamphlets that no one will read. There’s not too much here that you didn’t already know, but it’s always a great sign to see a machine make it past this federal hurdle.

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The cats over at Gizmodo have gotten their eyes on some succulent and salacious photos of the oft-rumored, much-discussed, openly-desired Dell “Mini Inspiron” (or as it’s now being called, the Inspiron 910) — and they’ve shared with the world. In the pics you get to see that familiar pencil-pose along with a slew of insides and outs, including an up-close look at ports, keyboard, and guts. The specs look like they’re right in line with those leaked materials we had back in June, and the word is this little baby will be hitting shelves come August 22nd. Time to swing by the Coinstar machine.

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