jak (11/19/82)
I may be about to acquire a new terminal. Would anybody care to comment
on the relative merits of the HP 2621A, 2621B, and 2621P?
Thank you,
Willie Heck
btl - holmdel
houxi!hou5d!wshdoug (11/20/82)
The HP 2621B is more expensive than the 2621A and has less features. You cannot change things like the baud rate, duplex mode, etc. without going to the back and switching toggles. You could press a few keyboard buttons and do it on the 2621A. Also, the 2621B does *not* work well at 9600 baud. It frequently messes up and does not catch control characters you send it (to break or stop the screen, etc.).
mark (11/20/82)
Actually, I understand that the problems with the 2621B have been fixed in the terminal currently being shipped by HP. The 2621B has replaced the 2621A, so you can't get the A anymore. If you order one you'll probably get a B. The HP 26xx series is a reasonable terminal with little braindamage. The arrow keys were botched (this may be fixed in the 2621B, it certainly is fixed in the 2626), standout mode is slightly strange (they appear to have used magic cookies that do not take up a space on the screen), and the caps lock key is particularly annoying, but easy to disable. The keyboard has a very good feel, and the display is particularly sharp and easy to read. The bad news is that the terminal is very overpriced for the features. The Heathkit H19, at less than half the price, has most of the features of the HP (except no detached keyboard and only one page of memory) and a few extra features (less verbose escape sequences, status line, inverse video instead of underlining for standout). The Ann Arbor Ambassador costs slightly less than the 2621 and is a considerably better terminal (larger screen, more flexible, lots more features). The 2621P has a nice quiet built in thermal printer. For considerably less money, you can get a separate impact printer that will connect to any terminal with an RS232 printer port (such as the Ambassador). The C.Itoh 8510 printer, at $800, is very good. Lately I have seen ads for similar printers for around $500.
pcl (11/20/82)
According to our HP sales rep, both the HP2621a and 2621p have been dis-continued, and are replaced by the 2621b (with optional printer). The 'b' model, however, was a re-design of the a/p models done by some people in France, who thought they were doing the world a favor by changing lots of little things. One of the main (intended) points of the re-design was to eliminate the battery-circuit that remembered your terminal configuration while the terminal was turned off. This circuitry was reportedly a major reliability glitch. (I say reportedly, because this explanation does not fit my casual observations of the numerous 2621a's & p's I & my co-workers have, which seem to have few problems). Another goal of the re-design was to lessen the cost of the terminal, which WAS achieved, according to the price$ our sales rep quotes (I think this contradicts a prior message on the subject, however). The 2621b initially had several significant points of brain-damage (as alluded to in a previous message), and HP has devised an upgrade kit that sells for about $150 (U.S.) (price includes installation by HP). It was supposed to become available about now, so any HP sales rep should be able to tell you about it. The newer models of the 2621b (starting a couple months ago) have the upgrade kit installed at manufacture, so you may not need one. Among other things, the kit fixes the high-baud rate problems & the caps-lock-turned-on-at-powerup default. If you have a choice between a 2621a & a 2621p, be advised that the 'p' model includes a fan WHICH IS ALWAYS RUNNING, even when you aren't using the printer. The fans range from soft to deafening white-noise levels, which is what led me to pick the 'a' I have over a 'p'. I don't know about the 'b' model, but the fan may be part of the printer option. Paul Lustgarten ixn5c!pcl Bell Labs - Indian Hill