The N97 might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're still tempted to pay the $700 entry fee, you could sweeten the deal by throwing in a free-ish laptop -- Dell's currently bundling the Vostro A860 with Nokia's latest for $730 after a discount coupon. Flip that sucker on eBay for anywhere close to its $379 list price plus some "handling fees" and you might just come close to paying a reasonable price for the N97. Well, sort of reasonable. Those still interested should hurry past the read link, as the full discount will only be available through tomorrow or until stocks last.

We'd already come to grips with the fact that a Vostro 1220 was indeed on the way, and now Dell's own Japanese branch has confirmed it. Over in the Land of the Rising Sun, the 12.1-inch business laptop has gone legit, bringing with it Intel processor options (a 2.20GHz Celeron or 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, namely), 1GB or 2GB of RAM, a WXGA (1,200 x 800) glossy display, 4-cell battery (a 6-cell is available), WiFi, three USB 2. sockets, FireWire, gigabit Ethernet, VGA output, ExpressCard slot, a multicard reader and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. The unit should start shipping soon in various configurations, with a lower-end build tagged at ¥79,980 ($837); needless to say, we're expecting a US announcement to follow in short order.

[Via Impress]

Update: And now it's a go in North America. Check the local press release after the break.

It's hard to hate on Dell's Vostro lineup: cheap is cheap, and there's nothing wrong with that. In truth, it could probably look a lot worse, but there's just something vaguely depressing about these unflattering leaked shots of what's apparently a crimson version of an upcoming 12-inch Vostro 1220 model -- in comparison with the fairly clean lines of the existing lineup, these new curves aren't doing the laptop any style favors, though it's at least an improvement over the existing 12-inch model. Specs are certainly alright, with a Core 2 Duo T6750 processor (remember back when every small, cheap computer wasn't running Atom?), 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, SD card slot, ExpressCard and even a fingerprint reader, and we're sure the price is even better. No word on a release date.

Dell's 8.9-inch Vostro A90, the Mini 9 with an identity crisis, has now hit stateside with a starting price of $349, about one-third the price of its Japanese counterpart. As you can probably guess, it sports a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, up to 1GB RAM and 16GB SSD, Intel GMA950 graphics, 802.11g, 0.3 megapixel webcam, 4-cell battery, and Windows XP Home Edition -- sorry, no option for Linux here, but you can still order the Mini 9 if you want that option, a brighter color scheme, or a smaller bill.

[Thanks, Erik]

It's been awhile since this family saw any updates, but we must say, Dell did a pretty laudable job with the redesign here. Make no mistake -- these guys are still aimed squarely at the gamboling suits in attendance, but we could certainly see a consumer or two pulling the trigger. The freshened line includes the 13.3-inch Vostro 1320, the 15.4-inch Vostro 1520, and the 17-inch Vostro 1720, all of which come with pre-installed videoconferencing and webcam software (so long as you purchase the integrated webcam and microphone). Furthermore, users can now opt for an SSD in place of the traditional hard drive, a fingerprint reader for added security or an encrypted HDD with Wave Systems software. The whole trio is available today in North America and select South American countries starting at $569 (Vostro 1520), $629 (Vostro 1320), and $649 (Vostro 1720).

We're no strangers to rebranded netbooks, but we're a little befuddled as to why Dell's rebranding its own Inspiron Mini 9 as the Vostro A90. Sure, we're digging the stealth looks, but the specs haven't changed at all, and we don't think the Vostro brand really has any more cachet than Inspiron -- they're both pretty low end. Even more bizarrely, the A90 is apparently Japan-only for now, and it's priced at an absurd ¥92,830 ($972) -- yeah, you can get three Eee 900As for that price with more or less the same specs. Must be one hell of a paint job.

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.

The Inspiron-like Dell Vostro laptops have been haunting us for weeks now, but the mystery deepens with this Vostro 2510 that was spotted in a flier. The August 2008 Dell Business flier reads as such: "Coming this month: New! Dell Vostro 2510. Style meets performance." As far as listed specs, we've got an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB hdd, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GPU, and integrated webcam. Pretty decent specs for the $899 price tag, we gotta say. The URL listed in the photo is indeed for the Vostro lappies, but the 2510 is, as of right now, mysteriously absent.

UPDATE: The Canadian Dell site has some official Vostro 2510 information and specs. [Thanks, jorvay!]

[Thanks, Dirk]

Oh no, Dell isn't forgetting to do its duty to Microsoft. Just as promised, it has now bumped up the prices for folks wanting to stick with Windows XP Professional. As of now, the only way to get XP pre-installed is by selecting an option that also throws Vista in the box, and if you're specifically after Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP MCE, you're thoroughly out of luck. On eligible machines, it looks as if getting XP Pro along with Vista Business will cost you $99 more than Vista Home alone, while having Vista Ultimate ride shotgun adds another $50. Or you can look at it like Dell's tossing in XP for free with those upper-level Vista packs -- whatever floats your boat. Let us know if you notice any different pricing arrangements.

[Via ComputerWorld]

Dell's been squarely situated on the green bandwagon for years now, and just as it did with the OptiPlex 755, Round Rock is making quite a fuss about the all new Vostro 410 desktop. The mini-tower features Intel's Core 2 Quad processors, an optional 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT, room for four internal hard drives / six PCIe or PCI cards, gigabit Ethernet, up to 4GB of RAM, dual-layer DVD burner and a rather run-of-the-mill port assortment. Potentially best of all, however, isn't the 47-percent energy savings it's purported to deliver -- oh no, it's the complete absence of bloatware, as Dell looks to fit the machine "with only the software you want" for your business. Check it out now in North / South America and the UK starting at $599, while Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have access before the end of next week.

Just in case you've been holding out, we want you to know that Dell's budget-friendly 17-incher, the Vostro 1710, is now available for your purchasing pleasure. The widescreen laptop joins the 1310 and 1510, thus completing the holy trinity of black and boxy systems, and likely signaling the end of this breathtaking saga.

[Thanks, Mike]

Dell might have announced its "500" laptop for emerging markets last month, but we didn't get so much as a screen size out of the company as far as details, leading to speculation that it was working on an Eee-class ultraportable of its very own. Sadly, that doesn't appear to be the case -- the Vostro 500 just popped up on Dell's support site, and it's not much more than a Intel version of the Vostro 1000 with a 15.4 in display, Celeron processor, and integrated Intel 965 graphics. No additional details in the offing really, but if the XPS 730's early appearance on Dell's support site is any indication, we should be seeing this one soon.

[Thanks, Dan]