Memorex Telex challenges IBM’s 3490 cartridge tape drive with fuller-featured 5490…
Memorex Telex International NV has announced the 5490 Cartridge Tape Subsystem which is said to enhance productivity, reduce floor space requirements and includes several features not available with IBM’s 3490 Magnetic Tape Subsystem. Standard features include a 2Mb data buffer and a 2Mb reserve buffer, accelerated rewind, automatic cartridge loaders, first channel attachment and upgrade granularity of two transports. Optional features include expanded automatic cartridge loaders, and eight channel support. Memorex says that the expanded cartridge loaders enable customers to improve mount times for non-specific mounts, as well as reducing operator intervention. The 5491 Control Unit is capable of eight channel support which enables users to access tape transports from a greater number of host processor images, and the 5490 subsystem is available in both unstacked and stacked configurations. The 2Mb reserve data buffer enables either control unit to assume static buffer management for up to 16 tape transports should either control unit need to be taken off-line. Accelerated Rewind reduces rewind time by 33%, which increases the amount of time tape transports are available for productive processing. The standard automatic cartridge loader has a capacity for six cartridges, and the expanded version has the capacity for 24. The 5490 Cartridge Tape Subsystem may be upgraded from one control unit and one cartridge drive unit – two transports – to two control units and eight cartridge drive units – 16 transports. Each control unit comes with one standard channel attachment, and additional attachments are available to allow 5491 Control Units to communicate with a maximum of eight channels. The 5490 subsystem can be attached up to six miles from the mainframe by using a 9045-2 Channel Extender. This offers the customer improved facilities management. A full line of channel extension products is available. The 5490 is now in limited availability with general availability in June 1990. The 5491 Control Unit is $52,710, and the 5490 Cartridge Drive Unit with two tape transports costs $48,000. The Expanded Automatic Cartridge Loader is $25,905.
keeps up the pressure in the 3270- compatible market…
Memorex Telex also has a new family of display stations for the 3270 environment comprising the 1471 A/G/W, 1472 A/G, 1472 D/E/W and 1472 C. They use custom integrated circuits and feature a proprietary power saver mode which cuts power to non-essential circuitry during periods of inactivity. Each Display Station uses a large character block, and enhanced function models provide host addressable print support that supports output to a display-attached printer. Enhanced function display users are also able to participate in system asset management functions through Extended Vital Product Data Support. Optional features include light pen, magnetic stripe card reader and bar code reader support. The 1471 A/G/W Display Station also provides a number of new or enhanced features as standard, including pull down menus, a rule cursor, and Vital Product Data Support. The 1471 has a 14 amber, green or black-on-white screen. Mark unprotected fields identify data entry fields, the rule cursor ensures data alignment in tabular applications, and local screen printer support allows hard copy output of displayed text. There are three 1742 Display Stations, and the 1472 A/G offers a 14 amber or green screen, the 1472 D/E/W has a 15 amber, green or black-on-white screen, and the 1472 C offers a 14 seven-colour monitor. Like the A/G/W display station, Host Addressable Print support facilitates output to a display-attached printer, and Extended Vital Product Data support allows participation in system management functions. There is an on-screen decimal, hexadecimal, or binary calculator, and the stationary or movable cursor assures proper data alignment in tabular applications. The 1471 A/G/W Display Station costs $1,020 with a one-year warranty or $1,130 with a th
ree-year warranty, and it is available now. The 1472 A/G costs either $1,330 or $1,440 with a one-year or three-year warranty, the 1472 D/E/W costs $1,535 or $1,645, and the 1472 C sells for $1,665 or $1,800. All are available in the third quarter.
and adds 80386-based Micro Channel and AT-bus personal computers
And Memorex Telex has two new personal computers, the 7270 Intelligent Workstation and the 7075 Intelligent Workstation. The 7270 is the second product in Memorex Telex’s family of Micro Channel-based workstations – presumably from resident supplier SMT Goupil SA’s Nomerel unit – and it can function either as a network server or technical workstation. The 7075 is an AT-bus system targeted at high-end users. Memorex Telex says that the 7270 enables users to fully exploit Micro Channle facilities such as multiprocessing and auto-configuring for easy set-up. It uses a 25 MHz Intel 80386 microprocessor and is claimed to be ideal for processor-intensive applications, including spreadsheets, high speed word processing, and graphics applications. The base configuration includes six Micro Channel expansion slots, and other standard features include 32Kb random access cache memory, with an additional 4Mb, expandable to 8Mb, on the system board. It has both 3.5 and 5.25 drive bays, with a 3.5 1.44Mb floppy drive standard. The base system also includes one parallel port, one serial port, and a PS/2-compatible mouse port, along with VGA video support and an Intel 80387 math co-processor socket. Optional features include 3270 emulation, System 3X, AS/400 or local area network communications. Other options include MS-DOS or OS/2, memory expansion modules and VGA monitors. The 7270 Intelligent Workstation is available this month and costs $6,500. The 7075 has a 33MHz, Intel 80386 microprocessor and includes 32Kb of cache memory. Other standard features include CPU speeds of 4.77MHz or 8MHz, two serial ports or one parallel port, and seven expansion slots. The base configuration consists of 4Mb of random access memory, expandable to 36Mb, a 3.5 1.44Mb floppy drive and seven expansion slots. There are five half height drive bays for tape back-up, floppy disks, or hard disks. Other features include expansion boards, additional 5.25 and 3.5 drives, OS/2 or MS-DOS, VGA monitors, and local net interfaces. The 7075 ships in June with the entry-level model at $7,300. Janice McGinn
