Year: 1986
Initial Price: $3,999, $9,499 in 2020
This 4.77 MHz 8086 “Luggable” laptop, the Zenith SuperSport ZWL-184-02 is a very rare model from the mid. 80`s. This particular unit was made in 1986 and was used in some of the gov service department from the US back in the days.
Manufacturer: Zenith Data Systems JAPAN
| STORAGE 1# \ RAM | 720 kB 3.5″ floppy disk drive and 640 kB RAM |
|---|---|
| STORAGE 2# | 20 mB ALPS HDD Drive (very rare) |
| GRAPHICS | Electroluminescent Backlit 10.5″ CGA LCD Display |
| POWER | 15 VDC, 3.1A (- = core; + = barrel) for Battery operated and 12V (- = core; + = barrel) in normal use |
| SOFTWARE | MS-DOS 6.20 with Zenith’s offical “Mode” command to control modem and backlight. LotusWorks stripped down on a floppy, various games and utils on floppy as well. |
| WEIGHT | 6.2 kg |
Useful Files: ZDS Software
Wow… I have one, it really cost that much?? 🙂
That was the initial price you could buy it back in the 80`s. now I think you can sell it for 150$ on ebay. 🙂
Hi, yes its the initial retail price. 🙂
Its the retail price. It costs about 200£ now…
Have you been able to fix (if you had any) the problem with the Real Time CMOS battery? I am restoring one, It always asks me for date and time and I cannot identify where the battery (integrated into something) is, I’ve tried to make searches, but I was not able to identify the chip or “the thing” that keeps the memory on. Thank you!
Hi,
My computer has the same problem. I never figured out where the rtc battery is…
lets keep it another 50yrs in a ziploc bag sealed …might get up to 5000dollars by then
Regarding the Real Time Clock (RTC,) most XP computers did not have a RTC built-in. The normal procedure was for the AUTOEXEC.BAT to request the date and time from the operator upon each boot.
The “User and Technical Manual” (https://www.minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/Zenith%20Data%20Systems/ZDS%20SupersPort%20-%20User%20and%20Technical%20Manual.pdf- page 7-2 / page 71 in the file) shows that the Time-Of-Day, and the RTC are both just interupts, and there is no RTC chip, nor any RTC battery.
If you want/need a hardware RTC, you could get one of the WiFi modems and either download the current time, or mine (WiRSa – https://retrodisks.com/en/home/43-61-wirsa-wifi-wireless-rs232-serial-adapter#/26-wirsa_options-fully_assembled_with_case) actually has an AT modem command to get the current time from a NTP server (others may have this, as well.) All you would need to do is write a simple program (even in GW-BASIC,) to send the proper command out the serial port, and receive the time then set the clock.
You’re absolutely right about early PCs and many DOS-based systems requiring users to manually input the date and time during boot since a real-time clock (RTC) wasn’t always present or powered. The lack of an RTC chip or backup battery in many of these machines was a cost-saving measure, especially in laptops like the Zenith SuperSport, which kept them lighter and less complex. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file would prompt the user to input the date and time each time the machine booted, as it had no way of keeping track once powered down.
Your solution for setting the time through a Wi-Fi modem adapter like the WiRSa is quite clever! Since it can query an NTP server directly, it effectively acts as a modern RTC source for legacy machines. This solution elegantly combines new and old technology, enabling systems without RTC support to maintain an accurate time without user input.
With a little BASIC programming, you could indeed create a script to send the necessary AT command, receive the NTP time, and set the system clock. This approach would not only automate the process but also ensure accuracy by synchronizing with a global time server. Using the serial port in this way could help bring any retro system up to speed with reliable timekeeping—a fantastic solution for vintage computing enthusiasts who want to keep their old hardware functional and in sync!