...And also the one in Zion who always try to give me a free Storm Laser, but I've never get to see its stats. (It's like the only time I get to encounter him is when I'm going for flight build) 
This one is a side effect of the fact that it should be a prototype, and by nature you don't know the details of prototypes.
Really I don't think it's too necessary to identify them by default, if only because even if they told you what it is, they wouldn't necessarily be so loquacious as to give you every little detail about its characteristics and performance, which you learn on connecting to it.
I mean, yes if there were some way to designate that you "know the name but not all details" then that would be appropriate here, but there is no middle ground. The good thing is you know they're not faulty.
Mostly concerns Mines where players may be gifted mining lasers and rocket launchers by Derelicts who openly talk about what they are going to gift.
But you already know what those are by default, since they're not prototypes. Or in this case are you referring to data loss due to corruption coincidentally causing those very things--common items--to become "Unknown [itemtypehere]"? (i.e., different from what DDarkRay is talking about)
