Gateway wins trio of PC notebook deals

Gateway Inc. has received more than $20 million in new federal contracts with the Social Security Administration and the Interior and Defense departments' Dependents Schools for computer products and integration services.

The Social Security Administration will pay Gateway about $15 million over the next three years to provide roughly 12,000 M460G notebook computers, the company said.

Gateway's also won a $3 million contract for five years with Interior to supply its M460 notebook and M280 convertible notebooks.

For the Defense Department Dependents Schools contract, Gateway will provide 1,800 M460 notebooks to students and teachers abroad and in the United States. The deal has an estimated value of $2.1 million.

Users of the M460 notebooks are able to choose between a 15-inch or 15.4-inch widescreen display and multiple battery options. A modular bay allows for the addition of an extra hard drive, floppy drive, CD-RW or DVD drive without powering down.

The M280 convertible notebook is a mobile PC that can be converted from a notebook to a tablet. The tablet display allows users to take handwritten notes, draw diagrams and edit documents directly on the display.

Other Gateway government clients include the states of California and New York, the Army and the Air Force.

Gateway, of Irvine, Calif., has about 1,900 employees and annual sales of $3.65 billion, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.