Northgate Computer Systems, Inc., based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, USA, was a mail-order personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 company, founded in 1987 by Arthur Lazere.

The 1990s were a golden era for mail-order PC business. Consumers were fed up with high prices for IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

, Compaq

Compaq

Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....

 and other brand-name PCs sold through dealers so they opted to purchase their computers from a catalog. This was a revolutionary idea at the time, because people wouldn't be able to see or touch their computer before buying it. Aside from Dell

Dell

Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

 and Gateway

Gateway, Inc.

Gateway Computer Corporation, is a computer hardware company headquartered in Irvine, California, USA which develops, manufactures, supports, and markets a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories...

, popular brands of mail-order PCs were Northgate and Zeos

Zeos

ZEOS [ZEOS International, Ltd.] is a PC manufacturer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Originally based in New Brighton, Minnesota and founded by Gregory E. Herrick, the company incorporated in Minnesota in 1981. Prior to manufacturing PCs, the company was called NPC Electronics. NPC was a contract...

.

The company was known for its quality systems and keyboards; in particular, its line of OmniKey keyboards was highly praised. The keyboards were particularly valued for their tactile response and durability, and along with IBM's Model M PC keyboards

Model M Keyboard

The Model M keyboard is a class of computer keyboards manufactured by IBM, Lexmark and Unicomp, starting in 1984. The many different variations of the keyboard have their own distinct characteristics, with the vast majority having a buckling spring key design and many having fully swappable keycaps...

, were considered some of the best in the industry. As such, the company's keyboards were often purchased by users of other manufacturers' PCs.

• 1987 founded by Arthur Lazere

• 1990 Announced 486
  Intel 80486
  The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
  
   systems using IBM
  IBM
  International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
  
  's Micro Channel architecture
  Micro Channel architecture
  Micro Channel Architecture was a proprietary 16- or 32-bit parallel computer bus introduced by IBM in 1987 which was used on PS/2 and other computers through the mid 1990s.- Background :...
  
   and merger talks with CPT.

• 1992 Discussed a merger with Everex Systems
  Everex
  Everex is a manufacturer of desktop and notebook personal computers. It was established in 1983 and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company was founded by Steve Hui, John Lee and Wayne Cheung. In 1988, Everex was the leader in tape backup sales with half the world market...
  
   but these talks ended and a 51% stake was bought by investor group Marjac Investments.

• August 1994 A chapter 7
  Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
  Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...
  
   petition was filed against the company by creditors.

• September 1994 The company filed for a conversion to a chapter 11
  Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
  Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
  
  reorganization plan. Mylex was owed $4.6 million, $113,000 was expected to be paid from liquidation from Northgate's inventories. The landlord of their Eden Prairie building also canceled their lease and they were planning to move to Minneapolis.

• December 22, 1995 Announced a reorganization plan with its creditors which paid 19 cents on the dollar to cover $16 million in unsecured debts. The funding would be from a percentage of computer sales up to a maximum of $3.75 million.

• 1997 Northgate was purchased by Lan Plus.

• October 2000 Lan Plus begins merger with Mcglen Internet Group.

• April 16, 2001 Mcglen and Lan Plus announces that the merged company will be operating under the Northgate name.

• September 10, 2001 Lan Plus and Mcglen expect to complete the merger by October under the name Northgate Innovations with Andy Teng as chairman and CEO.. However the completion of the merger wasn't announced until March.

• September 20, 2002 Announced a "Volunteer Training Program" with local technical schools to provide real-world computer manufacturing experience. Their principal executive offices are now in the city of Industry, California
  Industry, California
  Industry is an industrial suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County. Home to over 2,500 businesses and 80,000 jobs, but only 219 residents at the 2010 census - down from 777 residents as of the 2000 United States census - the city is almost entirely industrial...
  
  .

• 2003 Announced a trial with 7-Eleven
  7-Eleven
  7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
  
  to sell Northgate Computer branded PCs through their stores.

• 2004 Name changed to Digital Lifestyles Group to focus on the "teen computing and digital lifestyle" market with a new "hip-e" brand.

• 2005 On April 25 an announcement on their web site stated "Northgate Computers will close its operations to all customers. Northgate will no longer supply any type of warranty services inclusive of technical phone support."

After Northgate went out of business Creative Vision Technologies picked up the line of keyboards, marketing them under the Avant brand.