Zenith Eazy PC

The Eazy PC (stylized as the eaZy pc) was an all-in-one IBM PC compatible computer manufactured by Zenith Data Systems starting in 1987. Zenith Data Systems(ZDS) launched the eaZy PC in 1987 as an XT-compatible system similar to many others at the time, but with a few unique features. One unusal feature was that it ran a NEC V40 microprocessor, which was pin-compatible with the Intel 8088, like the NEC V20, but it had a lot of additional circuitry that would otherwise be on the main board integrated within the chip. The eaZy PC was designed to be a simple, cost-effective computer for the home, but this use was inconsistent with previous strategies. ZDS had historically avoided the retail consumer market, instead focusing on business and government customers, such as companies, universities, and government agencies.[1]

Eazy PC
Developer
ManufacturerZenith Data Systems
TypeAll-in-one
GenerationFirst
Release dateJuly 1987 (1987-07)
Media
  • One 720 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive (options 1 and 3)
  • Two 720 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drives (option 2)
Operating systemMS-DOS 3.3
CPUNEC V40 at 7.16 MHz
Memory512 KB standard; 640 KB with an external module
Storage20 MB hard disk drive (option 3)
Display14 in (36 cm) CRT
Power120/220 V AC
Dimensions13 in × 11 in × 3.5 in (33.0 cm × 27.9 cm × 8.9 cm)
Mass28–30 pounds (13–14 kg)

Unlike other PC compatibles, there were no internal ISA expansion slots. The monitor was fixed to the base unit, so upgrading it was impossible. Instead the rear of the system unit provided a serial port that could be used with a mouse, parallel port and a proprietary "option" port which could be used to expand the memory from 512 KB to 640 KB, or to add modem or additional serial port. The monitor also housed the computer's power supply, similar to Amstrad's PC1512 and PC1640 systems. This meant it was ventilated, and had no fans - it ran completely silently, apart from the usual hard disk noises.

Specifications

Construction and components

The Eazy PC was an all-in-one system: its case, monitor, and keyboard arrived in the same package. The system board's enclosing case measures 13 by 11 by 3.5 inches (33.0 cm × 27.9 cm × 8.9 cm) in width, depth, and height respectively.[2] The single or dual 3.5-inch floppy drives are accessed from the computer's right side.[3] The cathode ray tube display is permanently attached to the top of the case and can be swiveled and tilted. The display measures 14 inches (36 cm) diagonally.[2] It generates only a gray scale signal, using a warm white phosphor.[4] The graphics chip supports CGA video with a maximum resolution of 640 by 200 pixels which is double-scanned to 400 vertical pixel resolution, providing crisp characters in text mode.[2]

The computer's system board contains an NEC V40 processor, with a clock speed of 7.16 MHz, and 512 KB of RAM. Its BIOS chip was both designed and manufactured by Vadem. The board's form factor was unique among IBM PC compatible systems of its class at the time,[2] making extensive use of high transistor count ICs and CMOS chips—as Zenith had been using in their portable computers—to allow its IBM PC compatibility.[5] Uncommon for the time, Zenith did not place the power supply board adjacent to the system board but instead housed it inside the monitor. This allowed the board to be passively cooled, leading to a smaller case and quieter operation.[5]

Zenith originally offered the Eazy PC in three configurations: Model 1, equipping the computer with one 720 KB, 3.5-inch floppy disk drive; Model 2, with two such drives; and Model 3, with a floppy disk drive and a 20 MB hard disk drive. Once purchased, the configuration of the drives could not be modified—not even to add a second floppy drive to Model 1[2]— except by Zenith themselves.[6] Zenith equipped Models 1 and 2 with weaker power supplies unable to accommodate the addition of a hard drive.[5] Even if it could, however, Zenith's engineers arranged the components inside Models 1 and 2 differently from Model 3, in a way that makes it impossible to install Zenith's hard drive.[2]

Expansion

The computer's system board offers no slots for ISA expansion cards.[2] Zenith's engineers determined the absence of such slots was the only way to allow the computer to run IBM PC software against the board's non-standard form factor.[5] Besides the lack of ISA card expansion, no other commercially available non-Zenith internal upgrade options—including Intel's popular floating-point companion processor, the 8087[5]—could be installed.[2]

The Eazy PC's only after market options were sold by Zenith in the form of a real time clock, a mouse, and two external modules.[3] Both these modules have metal boxes for enclosures and plug into a 64-pin port on the back of the board,[3][7] expanding the depth of the computer's case by 2.5 inches (6.4 cm).[3] The first module expanded the RAM by 128 KB, for a total of 640 KB[3]—the maximum amount of memory the computer supports.[8] The second performed this as well as providing a 9-pin serial port and a telephone port that operated a 1200-baud modem.[3] The board has two other ports: one for a parallel printer and the other for a mouse. The mouse port is a modified 9-pin serial port removing the pins unnecessary for mouse operation.[2]

Software

The Eazy PC came bundled with MS-DOS 3.3, GW-BASIC, and version 1 of MS-DOS Manager, a file manager designed after Microsoft's own Windows operating system (not to be confused with DOS Shell).[8][9] Resident in memory, MS-DOS Manager uses at least 111 KB, preventing some larger applications—in InfoWorld writer Lewis Perdue's experience, MultiMate Advantage—from working at all without the 128 KB provided by the expansion modules. The same reviewer also reported difficulty running certain applications from floppy disk without the computer freezing, throwing errors, or failing to boot—deeming the Eazy PC not fully IBM PC compatible in his summary of the machine.[2]

Development and marketing

The Eazy PC was designed and developed by Zenith Data Systems and Vadem, the latter being an original design manufacturer based in San Jose, California.[10] Zenith announced the PC in early June 1987 at the Spring COMDEX, hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.[11] The company made the PC available for purchase a month later.[5]

Zenith marketed the Eazy PC as an "entry-level machine",[7] most suitable for "novice or first-time computer users", as well as "business executives who bring work home".[2] The Eazy PC was Zenith's first effort to attract a base of consumers who had rarely or never used a computer before. The company had previously attracted a reputation in the computer industry for their high performance systems—especially portables[5]—and their prominent supply chain for governments and institutions.[12] The Eazy PC's initial cost in the United States ranged between $999 to 1699 ($2,383 to $4,052 in 2020), depending on the three aforementioned configurations the purchaser chose.[2] The memory–serial–modem expansion module—which one reviewer considered a must-have for the PC to be useful at all—was an additional $399 (equivalent to $951.69 in 2021) cost.[13]

Zenith discontinued the Eazy PC in early 1990.[14] However, at least one discount catalog company, Damark, offered the PC with the hard drive configuration for $669 (equivalent to $1,388 in 2021) as late as September 1990.[15]

Reception

Daniel Brogan of the Chicago Tribune conducted a benchmark of several IBM PC compatibles' ability to handle calculating "the liability of a pension plan covering 1,000 workers" based on an algorithm used by a high-ranking actuarial consulting firm. He found that the Eazy PC ranked second-to-last place, beating only the Leading Edge Model D, finishing its calculating at just under 51 minutes—almost 20 minutes faster than the Model D but over 20 minutes slower than the AT&T 6300.[16]

The Zenith Data Systems Eazy PC is anything but. In fact, associating the word "easy" with this computer is dangerously misleading.

Lewis Perdue, in InfoWorld[2]

Perdue criticized the Eazy PC, defining it as "neither simple enough for novices nor powerful enough for business users".[2] Perdue most strongly disliked the inability for the end user to upgrade the Eazy PC to higher model numbers.[2] Except for word processing,[17] Perdue found the Eazy PC pointless for any other purpose, citing its instability when testing several popular IBM PC programs on it and lack of support for local area networks—all but eliminating its usefulness in schools and businesses.[17] Perdue wrote that the memory–serial–modem module performed well but had a loose connection to the main chassis because the thumbscrews attaching it were too short. Additionally he called built-in monitor's rendition of grayscale poor, requiring constant adjustment of the contrast knob to read text between the interfaces of different programs.[3] The only high mark Perdue gave the system was in setup—he was able to unpack and get the Eazy PC running in roughly 10 minutes.[18]

In contrast, PC Magazine writer Robert Aarons praised the Eazy PC as well-designed, remarking that the case holding the system board could be confused for a "fancy monitor stand" and calling Zenith courageous for making a PC clone lacking the visual hallmarks of one. Aarons cheered the monitor, calling it "the most eye-pleasing display you've ever seen".[19] Although he found the Eazy PC's processing speed slightly below that of other computers with a similar CPU and RAM and its hard drive the slowest in its class second to IBM's PS/2 Model 20, he rated it a good value for college students, casual home users and office users with minimal needs.[8] Cristine Bye of the Calgary Herald liked the hue of the monitor's phosphor but observed blurriness in its rendering of text.[20] Robert Lander of Your Computer commended Zenith's adoption of 3.5-inch disks for the Eazy PC, calling their decision forward-thinking, appreciated its industrial design and also singled out the high quality of its monitor and keyboard. However, like Perdue he criticized the computer's lack of expansion; and like Aarons he found the included hard drive of his Model 3 slow when programs wrote to it.[7] Robert Scibilia of Popular Mechanics likened the Eazy PC to the Macintosh: "a simple 1-box computing appliance that does its job with a minimum of fuss".[21]

Citations
  1. Greenhouse, Steven (1986-03-26). "Zenith Computer Unit Shines". The New York Times. p. D1. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. Perdue 1987, p. 76.
  3. Perdue 1987, p. 79.
  4. Aarons 1987, p. 336.
  5. Hummel 1987, p. 35.
  6. Bermant 1988, p. 151.
  7. Lander 1987, p. 34.
  8. Aarons 1987, p. 338.
  9. Mace 1987, p. 5.
  10. Alpdemir 1997.
  11. Staff writer 1987, p. 58.
  12. Hammerman & Sullivan 1987, p. 49.
  13. Perdue 1987, pp. 76, 80.
  14. Anderton 1990, p. 58.
  15. Damark 1990.
  16. Brogan 1987, p. C12.
  17. Perdue 1987, p. 77.
  18. Perdue 1987, p. 80.
  19. Aarons 1987, p. 337.
  20. Bye 1989, p. C1.
  21. Scibilia 1988, p. 135.

References
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