Zenith Dated Systems ( ZDS ) was founded as a division of Zenith in 1979, after acquisition by Zenith of the company Heathkit which had just launched out in the market of the personal computers. With the beginning, Zenith sold computers under the names of Heath/Zenith and Zenith Dated Systems. Zenith was one of the first partners of Microsoft, acquiring licenses of all the Microsoft languages for the computers Heath/Zenith 8 bits. Reciprocally, the Microsoft programmers of the beginning of the Years 1980 carried out a good part of their work on terminals with cathode screen Z-29 Zenith, connected to host computers. The first computers Heath/Zenith were based on the microprocessor Z80 and functioned under the operating systems HDOS or CP/M.

In October 1989, Zenith Dated Systems was bought by the French company Bull which continued to sell personal computers under the mark Zenith Dated Systems up to 1996. On this date, Zenith Dated Systems amalgamated with Packard Bell and NEC, to give rise to the company Packard Bell NEC.