{"id":23007,"date":"2025-12-10T14:45:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=23007"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:58:34","slug":"vin180","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/","title":{"rendered":"Zenith ZF 158-42"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Zenith ZF 158-42<\/h2>\n<p>[Vin180]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-20435 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-160x142.png\" alt=\"Carleton U Logo\" width=\"160\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-160x142.png 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-240x213.png 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-400x355.png 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-768x682.png 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-1536x1363.png 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-2048x1818.png 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/B_Logo_V-RGBRedBlackonLight150_130821-360x320.png 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\" \/><\/a>The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and business-oriented features, including an 8 MHz 8088 CPU, detachable keyboard, and dual 360K 5.25-inch floppy drives, making it suitable for extended work sessions and early mobile computing needs. Zenith Data System had a reputation for producing reliable, competitively priced PC clones that were widely adopted in government, education, and corporate environments, contributing to Zenith&#8217;s status as one of the top PC clone manufacturers of its era.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: Zenith Data Systems Corporation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Personal computer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: 1984<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: ~$7,500 (adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: ~0.3 (300 KIPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Hardware Specifications<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: Intel 8088\u200b 8 MHz<\/li>\n<li><strong>Memory<\/strong>: 256 KB RAM (expandable up to 640 KB)\u200b\u200b<\/li>\n<li><strong>Storage<\/strong>: Dual 5.25-inch 360 KB floppy disk drives (720 KB total storage)\u200b\u200b<\/li>\n<li>RGB and composite video outputs\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Four ISA expansion slots\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Two RS-232 serial ports and one parallel port\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Detachable keyboard\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Optional hard drive (up to 10.6 MB) and second floppy drive\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\">Operating System &amp; Programming Languages<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW136206418 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-0\"><strong>Operating System<\/strong>: Zenith Data Systems\u2019 version of MS-DOS, called ZDOS<\/li>\n<li><strong>Supported Languages<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Microsoft BASIC (often included with MS-DOS)<\/li>\n<li>GW-BASIC<\/li>\n<li>Turbo Pascal<\/li>\n<li>Microsoft C and other early C compilers<\/li>\n<li>Assembly language for the Intel 8088 processor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Notables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Zenith ZF 158-42, produced by Zenith Data Systems (post-Heathkit acquisition), was an early 1985 IBM PC XT clone with a unique &#8220;luggable&#8221; portable design featuring detachable keyboard and pop-up floppy drives, epitomizing the transition from desktops to transportables.<\/li>\n<li>It benefited from Zenith&#8217;s massive government contracts, including IRS and DoD deals that made ZDS the top US portable vendor by 1988, shipping over 433,000 units amid fierce clone competition.<\/li>\n<li>Notable quirks include the Ctrl+Alt+Ins &#8220;PAM-8&#8221; ROM monitor (from Heathkit roots) for diagnostics and a passive backplane cramming all logic onto one card, rare for XT clones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Carleton University&#8217;s ITS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zenith ZF 158-42 [Vin180] The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and business-oriented features, including an 8 MHz 8088 CPU, detachable keyboard, and dual 360K 5.25-inch floppy drives, making it suitable for extended work sessions and early mobile computing needs. Zenith Data [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zenith ZF 158-42 - School of Computer Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zenith ZF 158-42 The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/\",\"name\":\"Zenith ZF 158-42 - School of Computer Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T19:45:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T18:58:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Zenith ZF 158-42 The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vintage Computing\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Vintage Computing Collection\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Zenith ZF 158-42\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/\",\"name\":\"School of Computer Science\",\"description\":\"Carleton University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zenith ZF 158-42 - School of Computer Science","description":"Zenith ZF 158-42 The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/","name":"Zenith ZF 158-42 - School of Computer Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-10T19:45:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T18:58:34+00:00","description":"Zenith ZF 158-42 The Zenith ZF 158-42 was a notable early IBM PC-compatible portable computer from the mid-1980s, recognized for its robust build and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin180\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vintage Computing","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Vintage Computing Collection","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Zenith ZF 158-42"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/","name":"School of Computer Science","description":"Carleton University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"acf":{"banner_image_type":"none","banner_button":"no"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23007"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23912,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23007\/revisions\/23912"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}