IBM 3800

The IBM 3800 is a discontinued continuous forms laser printer designed and manufactured by IBM. It is significant as a product because it was both the first laser printer manufactured by IBM,[1] and the first commercially available continuous forms laser printer.

IBM 3800 Printer
Date invented1975
ManufacturerIBM
Introduced1976
Discontinued1999

The IBM 3800 was developed and manufactured in San Jose, California.[2] Production was transferred to Tucson, Arizona[3] in 1980. It was also manufactured in Järfälla, Sweden.[4]

The 3800 was initially positioned as a line printer replacement with additional features. Besides the much greater speed, enhancements over the line printer included:[5]

  • Forms overlay – the ability to print a predefined form along with the data, eliminating the need for preprinted forms.
  • Thirteen different character sets. The standard 3800 could use only one per print data set; a special feature allowed four to be used at a time.
  • Multiple copies printed on single-ply paper, rather than using multiple-ply paper, data could be changed or suppressed between copies.
  • User-defined graphic characters could be used along with standard character sets.

Later the 3800 family supported Advanced Function Presentation (AFP), a page description language with features similar to Xerox Corporation's Interpress or Adobe Systems' Postscript.

The 3800 attached to a mainframe system via a parallel (Bus and Tag) channel. Support for two channels was available as an option.

It was replaced by the IBM 3900, announced in 1990, and discontinued in 1999.[6]

Development

Development began in 1969 using a project code name of Jubilee. Later, the code name was changed to Argonaut. IBM did not, however, have a xerographic printer to base the Jubilee on (all printers up to this point were chain printers). This meant prototyping used an IBM Copier I which was not capable of anywhere near the product goal of 1 million pages per month. Therefore, dramatic developments were required in areas such as: paper path handling, lasers and optics, toner fusion and control electronics.[2]

First laser printer

There is some dispute whether the IBM 3800 was the first commercially available laser printer or whether this distinction should be held by the Xerox 9700.[7] The IBM 3800 first shipped in 1976 while the Xerox 9700 shipped in 1977.[8] Another distinction between the two products is that the Xerox 9700 was a cut-sheet laser printer, while the IBM 3800 used continuous forms.

Models

There were several models of the IBM 3800 Laser Printer.[9]

3800 Model 001

The model 001 was announced on April 15, 1975, and first shipped July 1976. It had a print resolution of 144 pels per inch (or dots per inch, pels are print elements) vertically and 180 pels per inch horizontally. It could print at 10,020 to 20,040 lines per minute depending on line density (which could range from 6 to 12 lines per inch).[10]

3800 Model 002

The model 002 was announced in 1979. It was a model 001 printer that had been modified to allow it to print kanji characters.

3800 Model 003

The model 003 was announced November 1, 1982,[11] and, at a speed of 215 impressions per minute, it was the fastest printer of its time.[12] It was the first AFP printer in the 3800 line. [12] The three main goals of the model 003 were:[13]

  • Improved print resolution. The model 3 had a print resolution of 240 x 240 pels versus the Model 001 and 002, which had a resolution of 180 x 144 pels.
  • Improved graphics printing capability.
  • Reduced service costs over the model 001.

To improve the resolution a new photoconductor material had to be used in combination with a specially designed digital voltmeter and a significant redesign of the laser print head. The helium-neon laser developed for the model 001 was retained, but lenses were used to generate two printing beams that reflected off a slightly slower rotating mirror (the mirror in model 001 rotated at 15,300 RPM versus the model 003, which rotated at 12,700 RPM).[13]

3800 Model 006

The model 006 was announced on January 26, 1987, and shipped later that year. It was functionally identical to the model 003 but only ran at 134 pages per minute.[14] It could be upgraded to a model 003.

3800 Model 008

The model 008 was physically similar to a model 003 but supported double-byte character sets, which allowed kanji characters to be printed (effectively making it a replacement for the model 002). In comparison to the model 002, it could print three times more kanji characters (22,500) with significantly better print resolution.[13]

Replacement product

IBM partnered with Hitachi to OEM a Hitachi-developed printer, released as the IBM 3900. It was announced October 1990 and shipped in late 1991.[15]

Other 38xx printers

There were other non-impact printers in the 38xx series from IBM.

IBM 3812

"The IBM 3812 was one of the first office laser printers produced by IBM."[16]

The 3812 (of which there was more than one model) was described as a tabletop Pageprinter.[17][18]

IBM 3816

The IBM 3816 was described as an "electrostatic page printer".[19]

IBM 3820

The IBM 3820, introduced in 1985, was IBM's first cut-sheet printer.[12][18] The 3820 could be attached to a host mainframe system via Systems Network Architecture SNA/SDLC, or to a PC using the IBM Personal Computer Network (PCLAN) or Corvus Omninet. An entry-level 3820 sold for $29,900 (equivalent to $71,077 in 2019).[20] The 3820 was an AFP printer.

End of IBM's printer business

In 2007 IBM formed a joint venture, InfoPrint Solutions Company, with Ricoh. The new company, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, took over all of IBM Printing Systems Division products, including the successors to the 3800 line.[21] In 2010 IBM divested its share and the new company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh.[22] All of its products are currently maintained by Ricoh and no longer by IBM.

See also

References
  1. "IBM Archives: 1976". IBM.
  2. "IBM 3800 Laser Printer Development". Ray Froess.
  3. "IBM Tucson products". IBM.
  4. "Some Key Dates in IBM's Operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EME)" (PDF). IBM. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  5. IBM Corporation. "3800 Printer" (PDF). ed-thelen.org. Retrieved Dec 10, 2019.
  6. IBM Corporation. "Declaration of Plan to Discontinue Lease, Rental, and Maintenance Services for Selected IBM Printers" (PDF). ibm.com. Retrieved Dec 9, 2019.
  7. "History of Computer Printers". About.com.
  8. "The Story of the Xerox 9700 Electronic Printing System". DigiBarn Computer Museum.
  9. "3800 IBM Printing Subsystem". IBM.
  10. Elzinga, C; Hallmark, T.M; Mattern, R.H.; Woodward, J.M. (September 1981). "Laser Electrophotographic Printing Technology". IBM Journal of Research and Development. 25 (5). doi:10.1147/rd.255.0767.
  11. "IBM Tucson highlights of the first decade". IBM.
  12. "IBM 3820". In 1985 the IBM 3820 was introduced. It was the first IBM AFP cut-sheet printer.
  13. McMurtry, David; Tinghitella, Mike; Svendsen, Roger (May 29, 1984). "Technology of the IBM 3800 Printing Subsystem Model 3". IBM Journal of Research and Development. 28 (3). doi:10.1147/rd.283.0257.
  14. "IBM 3800 PRINTING SUBSYSTEM MODEL 6". IBM.
  15. "THE IBM 3900 ADVANCED FUNCTION PRINTER". IBM.
  16. "A Laser Printer Book: 5. Printer Languages". As an early desktop laser printer language the capabilities of PCL 3 were very ..... The IBM 3812 was one of the first office laser printers produced by IBM
  17. "IBM RT PERSONAL COMPUTER". January 21, 1986. IBM 3812 Pageprinter
  18. "IBM tabletop publishing". Computerworld. August 17, 1987. the documents can be printed by IBM 3812 and 3820
  19. "US - IBM GDDM V2.3". February 7, 2007. 3816 electrostatic page printer, in simplex and duplex modes; 6185 plotter: 8 pen ..... ANS X3.124-1985, for the American National Standard ...... IBM 3812 and 3816 printers are only supported when connected via the 3270 ...
  20. Raimondi, Donna (Feb 18, 1985). "IBM unveils laser printer". Computerworld. Retrieved Dec 12, 2019.
  21. IBM Investor Relations. "IBM to sell printing systems division". ibm.com. Retrieved Dec 15, 2019.
  22. "InfoPrint Now Solely Ricoh's". Printing Impressions. July 2, 2010.
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