Recapping on the new screens, with US prices, there are two new entry 3191s, the D (green display) and E (amber display), add printer ports for the IBM Proprinter to print the screen contents with the touch of a key. Screens can show 32 as well as 24 lines, and the tubes cost $1,425 with a one-year warranty or $1,525 with a three-year warranty (saving the user $10 from the $55-a-year normal service charge over the additional two years); they’ll ship in July. The 3191 L adds a Selector Light Pen as a keyboard alternative. Available in August, the L is priced at $1,795 with a one-year warranty, $2,065 with a three. The 3192 Model F colour VDU adds 27 by 132 and 43 by 80 character formats and Proprinter port; there is also a Model L light pen version of this terminal. The F is available in July for $2,095 (one-year warranty) or $2,245 (with three-year warranty), while the L gets out the door in August, priced at $2,295 (one-year) or $2,620 (three-year). The 3194 – a terminal powered by an Intel 80186 but which is decidedly not PC-DOS-compatible – now includes models with 15 mono display, 12 colour, or 14 colour. An expanded memory feature for all the new IBM 3194s provides 192Kb of additional memory (at a cost of $325), bringing the total to 832Kb, and they also have an ASCII feature to emulate a DEC VT100 display ($325 additional), and a port for the Proprinter. Prices are $2,195 with mono monitor, $2,495 with 12 colour tube, and $2,895 with 14 colour tube; all models will be available in August, but some extras won’t ship until the fourth quarter of this year.

Cheapest is only $399

A new ASCII display, the 3151, has a 14 display and a two element design, combining monitor and logic system in a single unit. Amber or green, it has 10 non-IBM terminal emulations built in and others can be added using credit-card-sized cartridges. The cheapest is only $399 with a one-year warranty, $429 with a three; the fatter versions, which add DEC emulations and other options cost $525 (one-year warranty) or $555 (three-year). The whole lot of them start hitting the street in the US this month. The IBM 3174 controller now offers Multiple Logic Terminal Support as a standard feature, so that some 3270 devices can interact with up to five host sessions. The total number of SNA Logical Units supported by the 3174 also rises to 180 from 128. The 180 Logical Units are supported on 3174 Models 1L, 1R, 2R and 3R. A new facility, Central Site Change Management, will allow users to distribute customisation parameters and/or data to SNA 3174 controllers that are serviced from a central site. And a 20Mb hard disk for $1,875 helps store all the information a healthy, growing controller will need in late 1988 when it’s available. The new communications adaptor cards are $1,000 apiece; they’ll ship in December.