Dell boasts of education sales

Dell Computer says it has picked up more than 50 multimillion dollar deals in the K-12 and higher-education markets within the last 12 months. According to market researcher IDC, Dell was the No. 1 supplier of PCs to the U.S. education market last year. Apple Computer was previously the category leader.

Among its deals, according to Dell: The Center for Academic Computing at Penn State University installed a server cluster comprising 42 Dell PowerEdge 1550 servers. The cluster enables researchers at Penn State to study subjects such as computational chemistry, theoretical ecology, and gravitational physics. The Mission Consolidated Independent School District in Texas standardized the entire district on Dell systems, including 2,250 Dell OptiPlex desktops and 17 PowerEdge servers, displacing the district's old Apple systems. University of Washington at Bothell moved to a new campus in the fall and standardized 90 percent of the campus on Dell hardware.