Re: IBM AS400 Model 2130 Server at Egghead.com

Charly,

>Looks like a __great__ deal to me.  What am I missing?  The software
>doesn't get any cheaper than the P05 prices you listed, does it?

Egghead has had lots of these 2130's over the last year.  They are V3 machines,
so the OS will not transfer with them, as it will with V4 machines or Model
150's (even at V3).  Also, the machines are 32MB, so you need to increae the
memory to at least 64MB before you can install V4 anything.

The really great thing about these 2130's being dumped is that it has driven the
price down on the parts they contain, some of which I can use in my 40S.   Just
the 7117 expansion feature alone used to cost about $1K from a broker, so I
bought a cheap machine on eBay and transferred the 7117 and some other parts to
my machine.  I used to pay quite a bit for 6606 drives; but my last purchase was
7 of them for $105.  So now I have a full set of mirrored load source, plus a
7117 full of RAID-5 drives.  Plus a couple spares on the shelf since the 6606's
are notorious for "stiction" (I also have a few on the shelf with that
problem...)

But unless you are robbing parts, I'd recommend against the 2130's at V3.
Instead find a machine at V4, to eliminate the $2550 for buying V4.  For
example, Egghead has a 500-2140 for $1700 and a 500-2141 with V4 for $1995, but
they are P20 so you don't want them either.

They also list a 400-2131 with V4R3 for $1995, but that is P10 so is still not
suitable.  They do have a 600-2129 with V4R2 for $1995 which is P05 (see
http://www.egghead.com/category/inv/00000331/03555698.htm ), but IMHO that is
the only machine currently listed which is worth anything except for parts.

Often they have 170's with V4 listed for around $2000 which is I think better
yet.  But consider how bad you really want a machine at home.  I bought mine 4
1/2 years ago, and I like having a personal machine, but I don't know that I'd
do it again now that timeshare is available so cheap.

Consider that even the P05 software subscription is about $50/month.  So even
after you buy the machine and all the licensed program products, it will still
cost you twice as month per month as the timeshare.  Plus you don't have to do
backups, apply PTF's and upgrades, etc.  And they have all the compilers
available to boot.  Nor do you have to mess with hardware maintenance (I've had
a few 6606's go bad which I had to replace).

Doug
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