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What Zenith computer is this?

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Gribnitz

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The plate is marked ZDF-1217-DY but I can't pull up any information on it.
 

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Could you take pictures of the interior? I think it is a XT clone from 1988 but my information could be wrong.
 
Can you tell us anything else about the machine such as CPU, internal slot configuration, drives, etc?

It seems to me that the early spectrum of Zenith PC compatible clones is poorly documented.
 
I have an identical looking model, it's a Zenith XT clone with an 8088. Sadly mine has a RAM fault so apart from the cool LEDs lighting inside, I can't do much with mine :(
 
Zenith 158. I used to maintain them as a computer services work-study in college... as stated above, it's a backplane based XT clone. Pages 9 through 12 of this brochure: http://www.thecomputerarchive.com/a...esktops/Zenith Z-148 Z-158 Z-200 desktops.pdf

We had added 720k 3.5 drives to ours in the computer labs. We removed all the hard drives (used them for spares for the faculty's systems) and used NI5210 NICs with Novell boot roms, booting them across the network. It also made it easier to provide a consistent environment. Mainly used for Wordperfect 5.1 / Microsoft Works classes, and running NCSA telnet to access the VAX cluster... this was in 1991-1993.
 
HoJoPo said:
We removed all the hard drives (used them for spares for the faculty's systems) and used NI5210 NICs with Novell boot roms, booting them across the network.
Click to expand...

Damn that brings back some memories for me. I used to do some work at a school that had about 25 computers in the classrooms, all with Novell boot roms and no floppy/hdd at all. It was (as you mentioned) the easiest way to have a consistent working environment that you could install new software on without walking around to every single computer. Similar time as well, from the late 80's through to about 94-95 when Windows 95 came out.
 
HoJoPo said:
Zenith 158. I used to maintain them as a computer services work-study in college... as stated above, it's a backplane based XT clone. Pages 9 through 12 of this brochure
Click to expand...

Excellent! Thanks all. This is a keeper. I have 3 IBM XT's, but this is the first Zenith XT Clone like this I have seen.
 
Do you know how to tell the differences in the Z-150 series? I can also say it's in that series but I don't know all the different models, I thought it looked like a Z-150/151 to me.
 
That is a Zenith 158 definitely. Good machine, i have one, has a turbo button on the back even. If you have the Zenith keyboard, it can be set up to give you an audible click when you type too. It is fairly snappy for being an XT clone. It is a backplane, but all the guts are crammed on to 2 cards, there is a third zenith card you can get for it i think.
 
circuit said:
I have an identical looking model, it's a Zenith XT clone with an 8088. Sadly mine has a RAM fault so apart from the cool LEDs lighting inside, I can't do much with mine :(
Click to expand...

If you do ctrl+alt+Ins it has a ram tester which may help you identify which dip is bad :)
 
barythrin said:
Do you know how to tell the differences in the Z-150 series? I can also say it's in that series but I don't know all the different models, I thought it looked like a Z-150/151 to me.
Click to expand...

The Z-150/151 were single speed 4.77 MHz if I recall correctly. The Z-158 has a push button above the keyboard connector on the CPU card to toggle between 4.77 and 8Mhz. The Z-151 doesn't have that push button. I'm pretty sure that if you swap a CPU card out of a 158 into a 151, you end up with a 158. The chassis are pretty much the same.
 
Also another tell is that the Z-150's front bezel is 90 degrees to the table, while the 151 and 158 have a slight forward slant to them.

Also fun, the Z-161 transportable uses the exact same boards internally as a 158... or at least my H-161 did.
 
it looks very similar to the, IINM, a Z-148. Perhaps I'm not remembering the model # properly. In any event mine looked just like that, and I think had an aluminum cover. The Zenith's are nice, and were ever in the limelight, being they were available as kits through a course that constantly advertised in Radio Electronics, but were branded Heathkit. And the year was earlier, like 1986.
 
It's the same chassis and backplane as the z-150 series but different cards. I have a couple of those and some other models. Interesting seeing the differences
 
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