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FS: Zenith eaZy PC all-in-one XT/8088-class computer (NJ)

vwestlife

vwestlife

Veteran Member
Joined
May 2, 2008
Messages
5,398
Location
central NJ
I had this listed on eBay but the winning bidder turned out to be a scammer so I am posting it here instead.

The Zenith eaZy PC is a rare all-in-one XT-class PC from 1989, with a NEC V40 (V20 / 8088 compatible) CPU running at 7.16 MHz, 640K of RAM (512K on the motherboard plus another 128K in an expansion box attached to the back), a built-in 14" paper white monochrome CRT monitor with hi-res 640x400 text mode and dual-scan CGA-compatible graphics (640x200, 320x200, and 160x100 with up to 16 shades of gray), a 3.5" 20 MB Western Digital IDE-XT hard drive, a 3.5" 720K floppy drive, and included matching Zenith eaZy PC keyboard with Alps mechanical key switches. On the back it has a parallel printer port and a serial mouse port (I tested it with a Microsoft serial mouse and it works fine -- the driver for it is included).

The case has some yellowing and scars from where previous shipping damage was repaired, but the computer works perfectly. I replaced both the hard drive and floppy drive as the originals had failed with age. The hard drive now has a clean installation of Zenith MS-DOS, Windows 3.00A, Microsoft Works 3.0 for DOS, Norton Utilities 6.01, and various games and utilities on it. The CRT monitor is sharp and bright and the keyboard is a delight to type on.

Asking $85 or best offer.

It will be packaged very securely to hopefully prevent any further shipping damage and insured, or you can pick it up in central New Jersey.

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Caleb Hansberry said:
What does paperwhite actually mean?
Click to expand...

It's a term that shows up a lot to describe later monochrome monitors, and it seems to an umbrella term to describe monitors with phosphors which are both "whiter" (IE, warmer) and, usually, *slightly* longer persistence than the TV-grade P4 phosphor you find in most B&W monitors from the 1970's. That phosphor has a distinct bluish cast to it.
 
To that, I'd add that "paperwhite" monochrome monitors are typically completely colorless: Not green, not amber, just white.

These kinds of monitors were popular with dedicated word-processing systems; I used to work on one that was rotated 90 degress to portrait mode, and used with a custom word processing/typesetting package. It was hooked up to a 286 running MS-DOS and custom software.
 
Caleb Hansberry said:
So they are mostly the same as normal monochrome monitors but a little better. I imagine they were still cheaper to produce than color TVs...
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No, not at all...

It's a VGA monitor that displays black, white and 64 (or maybe more) shades of gray, commonly referred to as a monochrome VGA:

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Trixter said:
What scam were they attempting?
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It was the same guy identified in this thread:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-tanks-369/11638468-ebay-warning.html

One thing I was curious about with the eaZy PC, but didn't have enough programming skill to test, is if it implements the monochrome 640x400 graphics mode that its CGMA video chip supports. It has 64K of video RAM, so it should be possible to use. When I installed Windows 3.0, it suggested the AT&T PC6300 driver, but that didn't work.
 
If you dump the BIOS to a file using debug and make it available, I'd be happy to check for you if it attempts to handle more video modes than the standard CGA modes 1 through 6. That's usually an indication that it supports 640x400.

Alternately, you can sell me the system for the cost of shipping ;-) and I would be happy to poke around the actual hardware.
 
SOLD! :)

I have another Zenith computer with that same pin header expansion connector, except internally -- the Z-148. Back in the day, Zenith sold an adapter to convert it to a standard ISA slot, but good luck finding one of those these days...
 
Eudimorphodon said:
It's a term that shows up a lot to describe later monochrome monitors, and it seems to an umbrella term to describe monitors with phosphors which are both "whiter" (IE, warmer) and, usually, *slightly* longer persistence than the TV-grade P4 phosphor you find in most B&W monitors from the 1970's. That phosphor has a distinct bluish cast to it.
Click to expand...

It's a softer white as well. Easier on the eyes.
 
vwestlife said:
SOLD! :)

I have another Zenith computer with that same pin header expansion connector, except internally -- the Z-148. Back in the day, Zenith sold an adapter to convert it to a standard ISA slot, but good luck finding one of those these days...
Click to expand...

I'll have to crack open my z-148. I don't recall seeing that. On the other hand, it's been a long time since I opened it up.

I really enjoyed your YouTube video on restoring that computer.
 
Casey said:
It's a softer white as well. Easier on the eyes.
Click to expand...

Usually, but I remember there being a lot of inconsistency in those "whiter" phosphors. Some cheap VGA mono monitors would say "paperwhite" on their box but so far as I can tell they were using the regular old blueish TV phosphor, but higher end monitors would use a nicer warm-white formulation.

Of course, given a choice I'd still probably prefer green.
 
Eudimorphodon said:
Usually, but I remember there being a lot of inconsistency in those "whiter" phosphors. Some cheap VGA mono monitors would say "paperwhite" on their box but so far as I can tell they were using the regular old blueish TV phosphor, but higher end monitors would use a nicer warm-white formulation.

Of course, given a choice I'd still probably prefer green.
Click to expand...

Some of the old Zenith & Compaq amber monitors were nice. Have to say I'm more comfortable with green. :)
 
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