Gateway Expands Distribution To More Stores

Gateway's new desktop PCs will be available at Office Depot's 867 stores nationwide starting this weekend.

Office Depot has stocked select Gateway PC configurations over the past six months in its retail stores.  Now, Gateway products will be available on an ongoing basis in the stores, as well as on the company’s web site at OfficeDepot.com. 

The expanded arrangement with Office Depot furthers Gateway’s strategy to make its PCs available at major retailers in addition to Gateway’s direct channels. Following Gateway’s merger with eMachines in March, the company
announced plans to close its own retail network and develop relationships with key third-party vendors. Since then, the company has announced retail deals with Best Buy, CompUSA, Best Buy Canada and Canadian retailer Future Shop.

Gateway today also announced the first two products in its new line of desktop PCs for sale at leading electronics and technology retailers throughout North America.

The new desktop PCs — the Gateway 500GR and 550GR — marry premium features such as DVD-burners and huge hard drives with the latest Intel technology to deliver an unsurpassed computing experience.  The PCs are the
first from Gateway to feature the Intel 915G chipset, which utilizes next-generation technology for digital entertainment and enhanced performance.

The new PCs, which sport a sleek new design, will be available this week at retailers, giving computer shoppers easy access to these new high-end, full-featured desktop PCs.  Additionally, new Gateway computer monitors — a 17-inch flat panel LCD and a 17-inch flat-screen CRT — will also be available this week at technology and electronics retailers.

The new Gateway desktop PCs are ideal for consumers who use their PCs for digital media, entertainment, gaming and every-day productivity. Utilizing the new Intel 915G chipset, the Gateway 500GR and 550GR desktop PCs provide improved video performance that supports the latest games. Additionally, the new PCs support next generation hard drives and utilize Intel High Definition Audio, which delivers high fidelity sound quality for a true home theater experience.

The premium features on the new PCs put them on the must-see list for any potential computer buyer.  The new line delivers great performance and responsiveness with an Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 processor with Hyper Threading technology as well as 512MB of DDR memory. Plus, the PCs each boast a large 200GB hard drive.(2)  The desktop PCs are network- or broadband-ready with integrated 10/100 Ethernet and a 56K v.92 modem.

According to Gateway, the 500GR and 550GR are ideal for enjoying digital media.  They include a CD-ROM drive as well as an 8X DVD+/-RW dual-layer drive that can burn up to 8.4GB of data on dual-layer DVD media.  Also, the 8-in-1 media card reader accesses the most popular media cards used in digital devices such as digital cameras and camcorders.  For an advanced visual experience, the Gateway 550GR includes ATI RADEON X300SE 128MB graphics. The dedicated video card takes advantage of PCI Express technology in the Intel 915G chipset to provide
enhanced digital media performance and graphics playback. 

The new Gateway desktop PCs start at $849.99 and come standard with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Gateway’s two new monitors include the Gateway FPD-1750 17-inch LCD TFT flat panel monitor and the Gateway VX750 17-inch flat-screen CRT monitor. The FPD-1750 monitor provides a vibrant display of 1280×1024 maximum resolution and 450:1 contrast ratio.  It is priced at $499.99.  The VX750 flat-screen CRT monitor provides a 16-inch viewable picture with 1280×1024 maximum resolution and is priced at $169.99.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Office Depot to include our new lines of desktop PCs,” said Wayne Inouye, Gateway’s president and CEO. “Office Depot’s sales expertise is valuable to Gateway, as it includes every
distribution channel, including stores, contract delivery, and consumer and business-to-business electronic commerce.  This announcement is good news for both Gateway and Office Depot’s customers.”

“Gateway has great name recognition among home and office PC users — two of the largest groups of customers who purchase technology products at Office Depot stores,” said John Lostroscio, vice president of technology
merchandising at Office Depot. ”Our relationship with Gateway has been extremely successful to date, which is why we embraced the opportunity to sell a wider range of Gateway PCs in our stores.”