Zenith Data Systems Advert - December 1991

Zenith's notebook micro was based on Intel's CPU of the same name - the 80386SL, which was a variant of the '386 which had been designed specifically for use in portable computers.

It was reasonably well specified and came with a 60MB hard drive and a VGA display, albeit a monochrome one. It could also, at least according to the advert, run for a full working day on a single charge, which is something modern laptops still sometimes struggle to achieve.

Zenith had a complex corporate life, starting out as a division of the Zenith Radio Company, following the latter's acquisition of the Heath Company in 1979. Heath was already famous for its Heathkit brand of electronics and small lab-style microcomputers, and initially all Zenith did was to pre-assemble and re-badge Heath computers and sell them under its own brand.

The company became successful in the mid 1980s after it won a number of large contracts with the US Department of Defence. At around this time it launched it SupersPort laptop range which for a while captured around a quarter of the market for portables in the US.

It lost its way in the following years and was sold off to Groupe Bull - a sort-of French ICL - at the end of 1989, which can be seen in the advert above. From there, it ended up with Packard Bell, which itself was part-owned by NEC and Groupe Bull, before NEC absorbed in completely in 1996. It exited the computer market completely in 1999.