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Zenith Eazy PC
The Eazy PC (stylized as the eazy pc) was an all-in-one IBM
PC compatible computer manufactured by Zenith Data Eazy PC
Systems starting in 1987.

Contents Developer Zenith Data

Systems
Specifications Vadem
Construction and components
Manufacturer Zenith Data
Expansion
Systems
Software
Type All-in-one
Development and marketing
Generation First
Reception
Release date July 1987
Citations Media One 720 KB
References 3.5-inch floppy
External links disk drive
(options 1 and 3)

Two 720 KB
Specifications 3.5-inch floppy
disk drives
(option 2)
Construction and components
Operating MS-DOS 3.3
The Eazy PC was an all-in-one system: its case, monitor, and system
keyboard arrived in the same package. The system board's CPU NEC V40 at
enclosing case measures 13 by 11 by 3.5 inches (33.0 cm 7.16 MHz
× 27.9 cm × 8.9 cm) in width, depth, and height respectively.[1]
The floppy drives are accessed from the computer's right Memory 512 KB
side.[2] The cathode ray tube display is permanently attached standard; 640
to the top of the case and can be swiveled and tilted. The KB with an
display measures 14 inches (36 cm) diagonally.[1] It generates external
only a gray scale signal, using a warm white phosphor.[3] The module
graphics chip supports CGA video with a maximum resolution Storage 20 MB hard
of 640 by 200 pixels.[1] disk drive
(option 3)
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 Display 14 in (36 cm)
chip was both designed and manufactured by Vadem. The CRT
board's form factor was unique among IBM PC compatible
Power 120/220 V AC
systems of its class at the time,[1] making extensive use of high

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transistor count ICs and CMOS chips—as Zenith had been Dimensions 13 in × 11 in
using in their portable computers—to allow its IBM PC × 3.5 in
compatibility.[4] Uncommon for the time, Zenith did not place (33.0 cm
the power supply board adjacent to the system board but × 27.9 cm
instead housed it inside the monitor. This allowed the board to
× 8.9 cm)
be passively cooled, leading to a smaller case and quieter
operation.[4] Mass 28–30 pounds
(13–14 kg)
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[1]— except by Zenith themselves.[5] Zenith equipped Models 1 and 2 with weaker power
supplies unable to accommodate the addition of a hard drive.[4] 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.[1]

Expansion

The computer's system board offers no slots for ISA expansion cards.[1] 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.[4] 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[4]—could be installed.[1]

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.[2] Both these modules have metal boxes for enclosures and plug
into a 64-pin port on the back of the board,[6] expanding the depth of the computer's case by 2.5
inches (6.4 cm).[2] The first module expanded the RAM by 128 KB, for a total of 640 KB[2]—the
maximum amount of memory the computer supports.[7] The second performed this as well as
providing a 9-pin serial port and a telephone port that operated a 1200-baud modem. [2] 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. [1]

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] 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.[1]

Development and marketing

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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.[9] Zenith announced the PC in early
June 1987 at the Spring COMDEX, hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.[10] The company made the PC
available for purchase a month later.[4]

Zenith marketed the Eazy PC as an "entry-level machine",[11] most suitable for "novice or first-time
computer users", as well as "business executives who bring work home".[1] 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[4]—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
($2,276 to $3,870 in 2020), depending on the three aforementioned configurations the purchaser
chose.[1] 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 ($909 in 2020) 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 $699 ($1,325 in 2020) 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]

Perdue criticized the Eazy PC, defining it as "neither simple enough for
novices nor powerful enough for business users".[1] Perdue most strongly The Zenith Data
disliked the inability for the end user to upgrade the Eazy PC to higher Systems Eazy
model numbers.[1] Except for word processing,[17] Perdue found the Eazy PC PC is anything
pointless for any other purpose, citing its instability when testing several but. In fact,
popular IBM PC programs on it and lack of support for local area associating the
networks—all but eliminating its usefulness in schools and businesses.[17] word "easy"
Perdue wrote that the memory–serial–modem module performed well but with this
had a loose connection to the main chassis because the thumbscrews computer is
attaching it were too short. Additionally he called built-in monitor's dangerously
rendition of grayscale poor, requiring constant adjustment of the contrast misleading.
knob to read text between the interfaces of different programs.[2] The only
high mark Perdue gave the system was in setup—he was able to unpack and Lewis Perdue, in
get the Eazy PC running in roughly 10 minutes.[18]
InfoWorld[1]
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

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PS/2 Model 20, he rated it a good value for college students, casual home users and office users
with minimal needs.[7] 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.[11] 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. Perdue 1987, p. 76. 11. Lander 1987, p. 34.
2. Perdue 1987, p. 79. 12. Hammerman & Sullivan 1987, p. 49.
3. Aarons 1987, p. 336. 13. Perdue 1987, pp. 76, 80.
4. Hummel 1987, p. 35. 14. Anderton 1990, p. 58.
5. Bermant 1988, p. 151. 15. Damark 1990.
6. Lander 1987, p. 34; Perdue 1987, 16. Brogan 1987, p. C12.
p. 79. 17. Perdue 1987, p. 77.
7. Aarons 1987, p. 338. 18. Perdue 1987, p. 80.
8. Aarons 1987, p. 338; Mace 1987, p. 5. 19. Aarons 1987, p. 337.
9. Alpdemir 1997. 20. Bye 1989, p. C1.
10. Staff writer 1987, p. 58. 21. Scibilia 1988, p. 135.

References
Aarons, Richard (December 8, 1987). "Packaged Computers for No-Pain Computing" (h
ttps://books.google.com/books?id=1L7PVOhfUIoC&pg=PA336). PC Magazine. Ziff-
Davis. 6 (21): 321–338. ISSN 0888-8507 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0888-8507)
– via Google Books.
Alpdemir, Ahmet (February 18, 1997). "Vadem Announces New President, CEO" (http
s://www.proquest.com/docview/450064976/). PR Newswire. PR Newswire
Association – via ProQuest.
Anderton, Stuart (May 12, 1990). "Express Mail" (https://archive.org/details/NH2021_N
ew_Computer_Express_Issue079.pdf/page/n57/). New Computer Express. Future
Publishing (79): 58–60. OCLC 863285049 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/86328504
9) – via the Internet Archive.
Bermant, Charles (April 1988). "What's New in Low-Priced Computers" (https://www.pr
oquest.com/docview/199405164/). Personal Computing. VNU Business Information
Services. 12 (4): 149–154. ISSN 0192-5490 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0192-54
90) – via ProQuest.
Brogan, Daniel (December 6, 1987). "On Computers: Real-World Route to Right
Computers" (https://www.proquest.com/docview/282431062). Chicago Tribune.
Tribune Publishing Company. p. C12. ISSN 1085-6706 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn
/1085-6706) – via ProQuest.

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Bye, Christine (January 26, 1989). "Home Tech: Buying PC No Easy Task" (https://www.
proquest.com/docview/244016383). Calgary Herald. Postmedia Network. p. C1.
ISSN 0828-1815 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0828-1815) – via ProQuest.
Damark Catalog (https://web.archive.org/web/20210916103808/http://www.vintagevol
ts.com/wp-content/uploads/Damark09901.pdf) (PDF). Damark. September 1990.
Archived from the original (http://www.vintagevolts.com/wp-content/uploads/Damar
k09901.pdf) (PDF) on September 16, 2021 – via Vintage Volts.
Hummel, Robert (July 21, 1987). "Zenith Debuts Small Desktop PC Geared for Use at
Home, School" (https://books.google.com/books?id=LRBokcwLB70C&pg=PA35). PC
Magazine. Ziff-Davis. 6 (13): 35. ISSN 0888-8507 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/08
88-8507) – via Google Books.
Lander, Robert (December 1987). "Eazy Peazy" (https://archive.org/details/YourComput
er_198712/page/n33/). Your Computer. Focus Magazines: 34–35. ISSN 0725-3931 (h
ttps://www.worldcat.org/issn/0725-3931) – via the Internet Archive.
Mace, Scott (June 8, 1987). "Zenith Eazy PC Includes DOS Shell by Microsoft" (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=0TAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA7). InfoWorld. IDG
Communications. 9 (23): 5. ISSN 0199-6649 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0199-66
49) – via Google Books.
Perdue, Lewis (September 28, 1987). "Zenith Eazy PC: Eazy a Misnomer for Non-
Expandable Machine" (https://books.google.com/books?id=ljsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA7
6). InfoWorld. IDG Communications. 9 (39): 76–81. ISSN 0199-6649 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/issn/0199-6649) – via Google Books.
Scibilia, Robert (April 1988). "The Super Clones" (https://books.google.com/books?id=Z
uQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA134). Popular Mechanics. Hearst Corporation. 165 (4):
65–67, 134–135. ISSN 0032-4558 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0032-4558) – via
Google Books.
Staff writer (June 2, 1987). "The Ticker: Coniston Still Pursues Allegis" (https://www.pro
quest.com/docview/257146714). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 58 – via ProQuest.

External links
Zenith Eazy PC (http://www.oldcomputers.net/zenith-eazy-pc.html) at
OldComputers.net

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