Aug (08-03) - TallyGenicom bows

August 20, 2003 Editorial

If you run an S/390 shop, check out the white paper: Moving From Coax (3270) or Twinax (5250) SNA to TCP/IP Ethernet for Host Connectivity: A Strategic Guide to Implementation

I had been on vacation the week the the lights went out in the Northeast US. We still don't have potable water as of this writing. My kids loved the idea of "roughing it" until neither the TV nor the Playstation would work!

Many of the firms hit hard by the 9/11/01 disaster had great plans for alternate data centers and backup contingencies. Some got shelved as the "dust settled" and life came back to semi-normal. I wonder if this latest event shouldn't put those projects back on the front burners. We are reminded again and again of our own dependencies and vulnerabilities.

I stopped in on the SHARE conference while in Washington DC last week. Turnout in the vendor area was middling, but the classes and seminars were well attended. Any readers who attended may have had the opportunity to meet our own Jim Hill at the SecureAgent display. Most interesting to me were the "wanderers" who were only interested in the goofy giveaways at the various booths. What some people do for yet another "chatchki"...

By now you may have heard the news regarding the "merger" of printer manufacturers Tally and Genicom. Their new venture is to be called GenicomTally. (I would have liked to see it as "Genital".) I have my concerns about the product mix here. Genicom and Tally both have nice machines, and I wonder what kind of product line continuity can be created when there is so much overlap in their offerings. Some years (June '01) ago I wrote:

"As long as IBM is reconsidering its product line they should:
1) Contract with or buy Tally for Impact printers. Printronix supplies many other manufacturers (i.e. IBM, Decision-Data and HP) with their engines. The Justice Department would probably take umbrage if IBM controlled Printronix. Genicom is too weak. Tally's established technology can differentiate from Printronix models (with low margins because of Printronix supply agreements with everyone else) and give IBM a well rounded impact printer family.

2) Contract for all of Lexmark's printers. The whole product line is excellent and Xerox and Canon engines offer no continuity in the line.

3) Continue with Heidelberg on high end."

Two our of three so far. I'll wait and see if IBM ends up buying both Genicom and Tally in one fell swoop!

At the high end, great opportunities exist to get rid of the aging Xerox laser printers and their proprietary XES/UDK code. For plus the cost of a printer you can use standard PCL devices to free up resources. These models are widely accepted and supported for your high speed laser requirements: IBM 2085, 2105, 2110, 2770 (IP70), 3160 (IP60), 3900, 4000, 4100.

We just got in a nice load of the Lexmark Multifunction laser printers. They are really quite impressive but unworthy of the staggering list prices attached to them by both Lexmark and IBM. The HP versions are even more overpriced. Ours, of course, are very inexpensive. Long-live the secondary market!!

Sweet spots:
IBM 3151, 3472, 3482, 3486, 3487, 3488 terminals - and please check out the CLI et1500, et2000, et3000, and et5000 lines or the I/O TC4000.
IBM 3900-0W1 Venerable printer can be upgraded to the 4000 series.
IBM 4224-101, 201 - you can add internal ethernet to these and they last forever.
IBM 4230-201,1s2, 202 - (check out the internal ethernet for the 4230 family)
IBM 4317-001 ? yes, we have Ethernets
IBM 4320-001's. -- some left from that big package (yes, we have Ethernets)
IBM 6262- all models
Lexmark Optra T610n, T612, T614, T616, T620 - We have some GREAT machines
Lexmark Optra 1855?s ? over 90 pieces sitting (most with ethernet)
Lexmark Optra 1255?s ? 25 pieces sitting (most with ethernet)
Lexmark Optra E -- 6ppm desktop lasers are a steal at !
Lexmark Optra 310 -- 8ppm desktop lasers. Cute!
Lexmark internal and external ethernet print servers-- at least 150 of each.
Printek 4503 Great metal printer with multi-tractors for multiple forms
Tally T6050 500LPM with internal ethernet... A home run.

Some still in stock:
3) Genicom 3470 ? New in box = less than the IBM gets for theirs. Only 3 left!!
5) 4247-001 NEW in box with coax and parallel.
5) IBM 4332-004 InfoPrint 40
10BaseT Ethernets for IBM NP series

Tighter:
IBM 3153-BGx terminals
IBM 4230 twinax
IBM 4224-1e3 twinax

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