Help Me Identify This 1982 System

[dvanaria]

I picked this up off Craigslist for $40 - it was advertized as a "Zenith Data Systems" and when I saw the ad, I had to have it.

But now I'm wondering just what I bought...

It doesn't actually have the "Zenith" brand name anywhere on it, and upon closer inspection, the faceplate which encloses the two 5.25" floppy drives looks like it was hand-made, out of WOOD.

I've gotten a ton of help on retro computing stuff on this forum in the past few months, so thought I'd ask the experts here first: does anyone know what kind of computer this is, what kind of operating system it might use?

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[vwestlife]

That's a Heath/Zenith Z-120, with custom drives:

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=261

 

[Stone]

It doesn't actually have the "Zenith" brand name anywhere on it,...

No, but it has Heath which was eventually taken over by Zenith.

 

[krebizfan]

Heathkit got bought out by Zenith and it does have a Heathkit tag that is torn. I don't remember any Heathkit system in the "sewing machine" style enclosure but I might have missed one. A selection of Heathkit catalogs is at http://heathkit.garlanger.com/catalogs/ Check to see if any match your case.

My guess would be that the system you have is a Z-89 (terminal computer with built-in drives) remodeled by that Compar company into a Osbourne/Kaypro competitor. If you can open the case, a quick look at the motherboard should confirm which model you have. Would be awesome if it was an H-11 PDP-11 kit mounted into a portable case.

Edit: I see I was wrong.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Definitely a H120/Z120; the keyboard's the giveaway. I don't think that the bezel is wood, but rather high-denisty polyurethane foam, which was used extensively back in the day as an alternative for limited-run casework. Usually, the stuff when not painted has a brown-yellowish appearance, sort of like the foam on the top of a root-beer float.

Mold-making could be considerably cheaper than other technologies, as the whole molding process occurs near room temperature. The downside is that the stuff has a rather unappealing color when cured, so is almost always painted.

 

[NobodyIsHere]

Hi
Yes, that's a Z-120 which is probably the finest S-100 IEEE-696 system ever built. It is a very nice system.

Fully IEEE-696 compliant and solid construction. Personally I like the Z110 without the built in monitor but the same idea.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch

 

[barythrin]

Very cool find too btw. Like the others said if it was a Heath/Pre-Zenith item it may have a model number with H- (heath-model#0 instead of Z-model#. A lot of time the model number is on a piece of adhesive paper inside the unit.