[comp.sys.zenith] Zenith 171 PC

bbs00052@uafcseg.uucp (Albert Crosby) (02/09/90)

I have a Zenith Z-171 laptop & I'm basically pleased with it.  I have a few 
questions, however that I hope someone can answer.

First, mine didn't come with a battery pack.  Is this a universal pack that may
be bought at an electronics parts house?  Or, can someone give me the Zenith 
model number for the battery?

I've seen an ad from another source that listed the machine as being expandable
to 1 meg of memory.  The user's manual only talks about 640, but there would 
be space on the memory board for 1 meg if you used 256k chips.  Can anyone 
help me with this?
 
Also, I'd like to consider adding a hard drive eventually.  The DOS manual does
talk about booting the machine from a hard disk, but nothing mentions it as an
option, or how to install one.  Any help would be apperciated.  Even on the 
possibility, if it can be done, of installing a 3 1/2" disk.

I have a small problem with my space bar sticking.  (Otherwise, I think the 
keyboard is the best I've ever seen on a Zenith!  Well, excluding the chiclet 
function keys.)  How can I take the keyboard apart to fix it?  I can't find any screws, and I hate to pry a laptop apart without knowing any better.

Finally, a couple of display questions.  My machine has the CGA expansion board.Can I remove it and install a VGA board, externally of course, and a VGA 
monitor?  I realize I'd have to supply power to the video board externally, but
my real question is:  Can it be done?  (I'd keep the VGA subsystem for another
machine, eventually.)  Next video question.  The same ad that talked about
1 meg of memory in this machine showed a picture that looked like it had
a Z-171 with a blue super-twist LCD?  Is it possible to upgrade mine?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
	Albert Crosby
	Agriculture 219
	University of Arkansas
	Fayetteville, AR 72701