[geeks] NEEDED: terminal for my Suns...

[Sridhar Ayengar]

Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> Had a power outtage today.  UPS covered it, but the power company said
> it would be hours before restoration, so I shut everything down.
> 
> Naturally, the fixed the power in about a half hour.
> 
> I won't even go into the hell of navigating their website without a
> graphical browser.
> 
> As I turned everything back on, all was OK, as expected.
> 
> However, my DEC vt520 didn't come up properly. It gave croaky little
> beep, and the screen is out of sync. It works fine otherwise, but
> something is clearly wrong. It's going to the dump since I doubt it is
> worth trying to fix.
> 
> It was probably borderline already, and toggling power finished it off.
> I also found a sheet of paper covering the cooling vents, which might be
> what happened.
> 
> So...
> 
> Now that the DEC is finally dead, I might as well consider the
> possibility of getting something better.
> 
> I think it was Sridhar who mentioned IBM terminals were nicer, and I am
> thinking maybe something that can do multiple sessions would be nice.

It depends on the IBM terminal.  The 3151 is better than the 3153.  The 
3153 doesn't have any native support, so it has to use an emulation 
mode.  But, if you're getting a 3151, make sure that it's been 
well-tested.  Some of them had flaky power supplies.  But once you get a 
good one, it'll basically last forever.  And since it was made by IBM, 
it will have the nicest keyboard ever.

Personally, I'm looking for 3164s (the color one) and documentation, if 
anyone has any available.

Peace...  Sridhar