We're a bit miffed as to why Dell's keeping its new One-Touch Privacy system exclusive to the Latitude E6400, but whatever the story is there, it'll definitely keep straying eyes from seeing too much confidential information. Interestingly, this here filter isn't hardware based; rather, it's a software-driven application that "creates a pixel-based pattern on the screen, reducing the side viewing angles of people seated next to the user." Dell assures us that it has "minimal impact on display brightness" and that it can be activated with a single touch key, but we're still wondering how it landed on the seemingly sky-high $139 price. Talk about paying for the privilege.

[Via T3]

Lookie, lookie -- Dell has placed its sparkling new Latitude E4200 and (slightly larger) E4300 on sale today, just as promised. The 12.1-incher gets going at just over two large, while the 13.3-inch sibling starts up at around $1,750. 'Course, those figures can head far north if you start speccing 'em out, so, um, why not hit the read links and start doing just that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Latitude E4200 order page
Read - Latitude E4300 order page

Hey, remember those totally slick Latitude E4300 and E4200 13.3- or 12.1-inch laptops we told you about last month? Well if you've been itching to get your hands on one, they're going to be available very, very soon (September 16th, that is). If you'll recall, these little dudes boast Dell's new Latitude ON feature, the SplashTop-esque, instant-on desktop that gives you quick access to Firefox and a handful of other Linux-based apps. They also happen to tread that fine line between geek-lust design and hard-nose business machine guts. The systems will be available with Core 2 Duo CPUs, DDR3 RAM up to 8GB, hard drives up to 250GB (or a 64GB SSD), WiFi, and sport 1280 x 800 widescreen displays. Hit the read link for more details, and make sure to double check your account balances.

[Thanks, Filip]

We know Dell felt left out of all the fun today, but rehashing that months-old MacBook Air manila envelope commercial with the Latitude E4200 just isn't the way to snake attention from Apple -- especially not when everyone's focused on new iPods, not Macs. Plus, Lenovo played this riff a hundred times better with the X300 back in April, for crying out loud -- and worst of all, the envelope is noticeably bulging and crappy because the E4200 is way thicker than the Air. Seriously, don't you think it would've been much more effective to leak details about that Zing-based music initiative, or hell, even announce that rumored Dell-branded cellphone? You can't steal the narrative if you're not telling the same story, guys. Video after the break.

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.

Tons of pics of Dell's new Precision and Latitude E series machines? You got 'em, including shots of the crazy-small E4200, which really takes us back to the days of the hot little Samsung-built X1. Hit the gallery below, marvel at some of the machines your IT department may be rolling out in the next 6-18 months.

Dell's dropping a ton of new laptops on us today, and first up are the new Latitudes. Just like we'd heard, the E series is replacing the Ds, with seven new models total. As you no doubt remember from our Week o' Dell Scoops, the E6500, E6400, E5500, and E5400 are the traditional models with 15.4 and 14.1-inch displays, while the E4400 and E4200 are ultraportables and the previously-leaked E6400 ATG is a ruggedized edition. The 12-inch E4200 is the lightest corporate laptop Dell's ever made, at just 2.2 pounds, while the 13.3-inch E4200 comes in a 3.4 pounds. Both feature Latitude ON, which allows you to access data without fully booting the machine -- sounds a lot like SplashTop to us. Dell's claiming that the batteries on the larger machines can last for up to 19 hours, which sounds great, but we'll believe it when we see it. The new models also have an available backlit keyboard, and can be outfitted with dual pointing devices, fingerprint readers, and WWAN options including WiMAX.

Update: Dell just told us that Latitude ON is not based on SplashTop, but is a different embedded Linux solution.

Though we expected Dell's ruggedized Latitude E6400 ATG to have already launched by now, we suppose late is superior to never. As of this very moment, said laptop is available to order from the outfit's Small & Medium Business division, and the baseline machine comes with a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, Vista Home Basic, a 3-year warranty, 14.1-inch WXGA LED-backlit (and outdoor viewable, too) display, Intel's GMA 4500MHD graphics, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB 5,400RPM hard drive, 802.11b/g and a built-in combo drive. The machine we just described can be ordered up for $2,399, but those with a higher spending limit can opt for integrated WWAN, a 64GB SSD, a respectable amount of memory and a 2.8GHz T9600 processor. Sadly, the estimated ship date is September 29th, but you can feel free to get in line before that figure slips well into Q4.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Hey Dell Latitude XT owners -- multi-touch is now yours. The 15MB update announced Monday is available to download for 32- and 64-bit Vista or Windows XP tablet users. Direct2Dell even posted a video hosted by a real live Texan to walk owners though the installation and calibration process. Yeehaw!

When Dell's long-awaited Latitude XT finally hit the scenes, many were captivated by the idea of a daylight viewable screen on such a portable rig. Up until now, however, there's been little analysis over which was actually superior. Granted, we aren't saying that you can't disagree firmly with GottaBeMobile's assessment, but after checking each out for an extended period of time, Rob Bushway actually concluded that the LED-based machine was preferable. Aside from coming in a few ounces lighter, the LED-equipped unit didn't seem to perform noticeably worse than the DLV counterpart, and even battery life was practically the same for each. Don't take our word for it, though -- check out the entire writeup (video included) in the read link below.

Yeah, you know the deal with teardowns. So if you've been wondering at all what Dell's semi-rugged capacitive touchscreen convertible tablet looks like disrobed, head on over and check out one pretty naked Latitude XT.

HP's already jumped on board, and it looks like Qualcomm's now also managed to convince Dell of the merits of its Gobi dual-3G chipset, which will soon be finding its way into a variety of Latitude, Precision, and other unspecified consumer laptops. For those not up to speed, that welcome addition will let you connect to both EV-DO and HSPA networks the world over without having to carry two different mobile broadband cards with you, with switching between the two as easy as flipping a software switch. Unfortunately, there's no word on the exact models that'll be getting the upgrade, nor is there any word on how much extra it'll cost or exactly when it'll be available, with Dell only going so far as to say that they'll be available "later this year."

We're closing out our Week O' Dell scoops the way it began, with Dell's new Ergo, revealed. Clearly, it's not a waffle iron or bulk food scale with LCD monitor. It's just an E-series stand supporting LCDs up to 24-inches. Sorry, but it looks like the existing Latitude D-series of docks won't work for the new Es. As such, prepare to purchase a truckload of new E-Ports to accompany your Latitude E6000 and E5000 laptops, E4300 and E4200 ultra-portables, and the semi-rugged E6400 ATG. At least the XT2 Tablet should work with the existing XT media base. All the details can be found in the gallery below.

Our week o' Dell scoops continues with what Dell calls its "mainstream" and "essential" series of Latitude E-series laptops. While the enterprise-ready, mainstream series packs just about everything (and more) that you could hope for in a balanced spec-for-size lappie, the essential series is only essential if you're on a tight budget and just can't live without the comparatively low-end chub. The 15.4-inch E6500 and 14.1-inch E6400 models will replace Dell's D830 and D630 whereas the "essential" 15.4-inch E5500 and 14.1-inch E5400 carry on the low-end tradition of Dell's D531 and D530. With any luck, these will be Dell's first Montevina / Centrino 2 class machines if they all hit the targeted June release date as planned. AMD fans will see the E5500a and E5400a configurations at about the same time. So what can you expect under the hood? Well, just look at the 5.1-pound E6500 which reads like a suit's, geek fantasy:

• UWB, Bluetooth 2.1, mobile broadband
  
• Integrated GPS, yes GPS
• New 84WHr slice batteries for "all day" computing
  
• LED backlighting, 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, discrete nVIDIA graphics and DisplayPort out
  
• Hard, Hybrid, and Solid State disk drive options with eSATA jack for more
• Optional camera and mic
• Plenty of security options including contact-less smart cards and encrypted hard disks

Time to pad those budgets a bit, eh CIOs? Full low-down in the gallery below.

See that? That's Dell's Latitude roadmap stretching into Q1 of 2009. We already told you about Dell's XT2 tablet plans yesterday and gave you the initial peek at the E-series back in February. Details of each the new Es shortly as our week o' Dell scoops continues. Until then, kick back and soak it all in with the assurance that Dell's thinner, lighter Centrino 2-based E-series laptops with options for "all-day batteries" and an emphasis on design are on the way. Non-squinty version available below.