Infowindows for all is the promise as IBM turns the heat on to 3270 competitors Although Tuesday’s launch was ostensibly devoted to the AS/400, the company was more excited about a new line of display terminals that replace the 3192, 3192-G and 3197 than anything else, in the UK cheerily telling anybody who asked ahead of the event that the annoncement was about dumb terminals. Moreover, the company thinks the new ones are so special that it wanted a sexy new name for them, and as the best it could find, InfoWindow, had already been commandeered by its own 4055 touch-sensitive display that that has been renamed the InfoWindow Touch-Screen Display to distinguish it from the general-purpose family of InfoWindow displays. IBM describes the new InfoWindows as being designed for maximum user comfort and says they feature sharply-defined characters, easy-to-read screens and a compact size, and come in versions for 370s and for AS/400s and the old General Systems Division machines. Features include etched screens and, on the monochrome models, flat-fronted cathode ray tubes to reduce glare and minimize eye fatigue. A high-resolution image using 75% more pixels per character than in prior models means the letters are large, crisp and easy-to-read – and menu-driven set-up enables users to install and personalise their own displays without assistance from others or even a manual.
Four models of 3472 for 370 users join the entry-level 3471 launched in June The InfoWindow 3472 displays for System/370 users include two 14 monochrome models, a 15 monochrome model and a high-resolution colour model; and join the entry-level monochrome InfoWindow 3471, which was announced in June. All 3472s support four screen formats, so that users can work with images as wide as 132 characters or as long as 43 lines, nearly double the number of lines typically displayed. They also support an enhanced Record/Play/Pause feature, so that users can store and recall up to 4,000 frequently-used keystrokes. The high-resolution colour display offers seven colours and can be upgraded to the graphics model, described separately. Compatible with the 3192, it offers host-directed and local printer support, extended Vital Product Data and Variable Auto-Dim. It attaches to any 370, the 8100, and the AS/400, 38b and 36. It is $1,300 300 green or amber, $1,500 for 15 green and $1,620 for 14 colour with one year warranty. The three-year warranty adds about $100 to the price and they’re available next week. And the mono 4271 announced in June is reduced by 19% to $1,000 with a one-year warranty.
Windowed 3472-G supports up to five concurrent sessions, one of which can be graphics The InfoWindow Graphics-5 3472, hereinafter called the 3472-G since that is IBM’s abbreviation, is the high-function member of the host-dependent InfoWindow display family. It’s called Graphics-5 because it can display a graphics session plus up to five other simultaneous alphanumeric sessions, and is the follow-on for the 3192-G Colour Graphics Display Station but adds multiple concurrent sessions, session-to-session copy, windowing, notepad, Vital Product Data, Extended Vital Product Data, self-contained help screens, record/play/pause, and set-up mode with on-screen prompts. Unlike the 3192-G, it needs no expansion unit to attach a mouse or colour plotter, and it needs no expansion unit to attach a mouse or colour plotter and it can also attach a tablet device for digitised input and a bar code reader or magnetic stripe reader. Draw times are claimed to be up to 70% faster – typically 30% to 50% faster – than the 3192-G and graphics can be displayed in either 24 by 80 or 32 by 80 character formats. The multiple host sessions feature supports up to five System/370 host sessions plus (if attached to an IBM 3174 Control Unit with the AEA feature) connection to an ASCII host session, for a total of six simultaneous host sessions, one of which can be a graphics session. The session-to-session copy feature means that users can transfer alphanumeric information from any host session or
the notepad to any other session or the notepad – but not to an ASCII session, and data can be copied from one location within a session to another location in the same session. Hardware windowing means that users can view parts of several host sessions and other information on the screen at the same time, and windows can overlap or not as preferred, and can be placed and sized at will. A variety of printers can be attached for host-addressable printing of alphanumeric information or screen printing of graphics and alphanumeric information. Host connection is via an IBM 3174, via the Workstation Subsystem Controller of the 9370, or, with limited function, via a 3274; applications for the 3192-G will run unaltered on the 3472-G. Upgradable from the colour 3192, the 3192-G costs $2,390 with one-year and $2,540 with three-year warranty, and it is out on November 17.
3477s for AS/400 match 3472 models The InfoWindow 3477 displays for AS/400, System/38 and System/36 users come in the same one colour and three monochrome models include as the 3472s, and again, an entry-level monochrome InfoWindow 3476 was announced in June. The 3477 displays support three screen formats – 1,920, 3,560 or the maximum 27 lines by 132 columns for 1,920/1,440 split screen format, and the Record/Play/Pause feature stores up to 1,500 characters. Host printing support includes IBM 5219 data-stream emulation, supporting use of printing features such as right justification, and superscript or subscript. Compatible with the 3197, it includes personal computer printer support with host-directed printing, local print with trim, Dual Address Terminal capability, Extended Character Buffer, and Bar Code/Magnetic Badge Slot Reader capability. It attaches directly, or via the 5259 Migration Data link or 5299 Terminal Multiconnector and Twinax to Telephone Twisted Pair adaptors for local connection. For remote connection, the appropriate 5294 or 5394 Remote Control Unit is needed. It’s 1,300 green or amber, $1,500 for 15 green and $1,620 for 14 colour with one year warranty. The three-year warranty adds about $100 to the price of each, and they’re out now. And the mono 4276 announced in June is cut 19% to $1,000 with one-year warranty.
It’s curtains for 3191, 3192, 3197 The new displays mean that the 3191, 3192 and 3197 will be withdrawn from marketing on October 6 – but as the new displays are up to 24% cheaper than the ones they replace, only leasing companies with large portfolios of the old ones will be weeping.
