Zenith Data Systems Advert - December 1987

Zenith Data Systems had started out in 1979 as a division of the Zenith Radio Company, after the latter had bought the famous Heath company from Schlumberger.

Heath - trading in the microcomputer industry as Heathkit - was already well known for its various "H"-series kit microcomputers, like the Intel 8080A-based H8 and the H11 - essentially a clone of DEC's legendary PDP-11, but in a desktop box.

The Heath Company had actually been around a lot longer than that, as it could trace its roots right back to its founding in 1912 as the E. B. Heath Aerial Vehicle Company.

It started building electronics kits in 1947, and by the 70s was selling a large range including hi-fi and audio, radios, remote control models and even a built-it-yourself colour TV, which was apparently one of its "more complex kits".

Zenith initially sold Heath's kit computers but in ready-made form - its Z100 from 1983 for instance was simply Heath's H100 in a nice box. Before long though it was building its own machines, such as this - its Z183 portable, a version of the almost-identical Z181 from 1986.

Zenith's Z181. From Practical Computing, April 1987

Both the Z181 and Z183 ran a CMOS version of the 8088 processor - the 80C88 - at 8MHz or 4.7MHz and came with 640K RAM. They both also came with a built-in modem, and one or two 740KB 3.5" floppy disk drives, which popped up out of the case for access.

Both machines were fully IBM PC-compatible, but their defining feature at the time was a new type of "twisted nematic^[1]" LCD technology which produced much clearer text when back-lit than previous laptops.

Reviewing the Z181 in October 1986's PC, Jack Schofield wrote:

"The Zenith Z181 is not unusual in delivering the power of a desktop micro in a portable battery-powered package. But at the moment the unique LCD screen legibility may make it the most attractive of its class. Of those I've seen, it would be the system of my choice - if I could afford it. Although the Zenith is expensive compared to many of today's clones, the system is at least complete and includes a good set of I/O ports."

Zenith Data Sytems' parent - Zenith Electronics - announced a loss of £6.7 million in the second quarter of 1986, which is about £25 million in 2024. That was nearly double the previous year's loss of £3 million.

It was struggling in the colour television sector, where Far East imports and the strength of the US dollar led to a loss of around £26 million. The computer division actually managed to record an increase of sales of 19% - up to £97 million - but the falling prices of micros meant that this didn't translate into increased profits^[2].