5 May
2006
5 May
'06
6:04 p.m.
Richard wrote:
From a collector's viewpoint, modern terminals
don't have much visual
appeal. I think once the electronics got small enough to fit inside
the enclosure for the CRT tube, all the terminals started to look like
monitors with keyboard and serial ports.
It seems that nowadays terminals are only used for character markets
where cost is a factor. Fancy graphics terminals probably won't ever
come back, except possibly as some sort of beefy thin client.
Often, PC's are actually cheaper than terminals, and users usually
have one on their desk anyway.
Is anything still going on with X terminals?
I find that low-end (used) PC's with Linux/X11 on them are cheaper and
easier to maintain than actual X terminals. Old used PC's (800+Mhz, 4+gb
disk,
64+Mb ram) with monitors are available under $200. Real (used) X terminals
often start at $300 for similiar hardware. Most of the time you really
don't
need a high end PC just to support a few windows (usually xterms).
Load a PC with Linux (or BSD) and X.open, you get a current X11
implementation, and the ability to update it later if bugs are found, etc.
Many of the X terminals have strange monitors, weird keyboards, and
assorted
other odd objects in them that are not easily available for repair.
PC repair parts are easily available. Goodwill stores and government
auctions become a good source of spare parts.