Re: when buying an as/400 what do you look for?

On Sat, 13 Feb 1999 13:04:18 -0800 (PST), mohammad khan
<mohammadakhan@yahoo.com> wrote:

>is it possible or even reasonable to ask
>whether or not someone can own an as400
>for their home? i mean, you can set one up
>in your house can't you? if not, why not?
>how about the power supply, it doesn't need
>any special kind of outlet does it?

Yes, you could get an AS/400 for your house...
All the smaller models I've used run on (in the US) standard 110v power. In
addition, they come with a built-in battery/UPS, so you can shut it down
cleanly in a power outage. I don't know the VA used by a system running 24/7,
but it would probably impact electrical bills.

>i'm considering about buying one, but i don't 
>know what sort of configuration i should be
>looking for. i'll basically want to practice
>rpg, cl, subfiles on it mostly, and security
>issues too. so what sort of a set up does the
>machine need for such things? are monitors and
>printers a separate issue too? i mean, it's not
>like you could hookup a dot matrix to one of these
>things could you? i'd be forced to buy one of those
>giant ibm printers too wouldn't i?

...However, an AS/400 is NOT a PC. The last time I looked (a few months ago),
the least expensive AS/400 is a model 150. The base price is US$7995, and
that's with no console. If you already have a PC with a free serial port, you
could get the CA console. I haven't run it, so don't know what the pitfalls of
setting up a system with one might be.

If you need a real terminal for the console, I've bought refurbished IBM
terminals for $400-$500.

If you want to attach a PC ot it, you have the option of using twinax (which
would involve getting a twinax card for the PC and stringing twinax wire), CA
console (see above), or 10baseT ethernet (involves an ethernet card in the PC
and AS/400). Whether you already have one of these solutions on hand dictates
cost. 

Then there is the issue of licensed products. IIRC, RPG for a P05 AS/400
(which is what the 150 and lowend 170s are) costs $2500.

Factor in shipping, ICC (IBM Credit Corporation), setup time, and hardware
addons or additional licensed programs (Query, SQL?), and you're looking at
between $11000-$12000.

Even looking at used AS/400s, you can expect to pay about $3000 for a decent
system, probably won't be RISC, and you still have the issue of licensed
products.

It's VERY expensive just to learn it at home.

Loyd

--  
"Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice,
 and somewhere else the tea's getting cold." --The Doctor
lgoodbar@watervalley.net  ICQ#504581  http://www.watervalley.net/users/lgoodbar/
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