Research
After looking a little deeper I found a few more leads, such as an article from 1987 on the 3 main models available and this article from 1989 that explains how they will shift manufacturing over the the BF Goodrich complex in akron, which according to this and this, doesn't appear to have ever happened. This post on deskthority shows that some people actually do own the same keyboard as me, and I've even seen two for sale over the years for around $400 each. Some forum posts also show that at least three other people out there owned a deltagold at one point, but I've never seen a post about a system besides the Elite. Looking deeper I eventually found two videos from someone that currently owns an Elite, though they didn't know too much about it's history or the company. An Elite can even be seen in this music video for queen's invisible man.
It was around this point in time that I discovered the library that is google books, and found a lot of computer magazines from the time period containing advertisments for Deltagold, most of which can be seen below. These articles contaned the only two photos so far of the prestive and the premier, and eludes to a few more models that may exist. Below is a list of what we know so far about what they made:
- Deltagold Elite - 1987, $1195, switchable 4.77/10MHz 8088 licensed clone, 512k ram expandable to 768k, 4 expansion slots, two 5.25" 360k diskette drives, 12" monochrome monitor, external clock
- Deltagold Prestige - 1987, $1995, switchable 6/10MHz 8088, 512k ram expandable to 1Mb, 3 or 6 expansion slots (conflicting evidence, most likely 6), one 5.25" 1.2Mb diskette drive, 12" monochrome monitor, external clock, front lock
- Deltagold Premier - 1987, $4995, switchable 8/16MHz 80386, 1mb ram, 8 expansion slots, 40Mb hard disk, EGA monitor with adapter, external clock, front lock. Elite & Prestige come with integrated software package (spreadsheet, word processor, database), All three models come with MS-DOS 3.2 and GW Basic.
- Sprint Portable 88 - 1988, Laptop, 7.7 pounds, two 3.5" diskette drives, 640k ram, serial, parallel, and game ports, external video output.
- Voyager 88 - 1988, 4.77/10MHz 8088, 640k ram, two 3.5" diskette drives, LCD screen, available with 20Mb hard disk.
- Voyager 286 - 1988, 10MHz 80286, 640k ram, two 3.5" diskette drives, LCD screen, available with 20Mb hard disk. Unable to find any images of the portable computers
- Deltagold Elite II - 1988
- Deltagold Prestige II - 1988
- DG-630 - 1988
- Samsung Model A - 1987, $1995, 80286, 8 expansion slots, 12" monochrome monitor, graphics adapter, intergrated software package, both samsung computers sold under Delta Computer Corp. in the U.S.
- Samsung model TX - 1987, $1095, 8088-2, 6 expansion slots, 640k ram, two 5.25" disk drives, 12" monochrome monitor, graphics adapter, intergrated software package; second version available with colour monitor for $1395, third version with a 20Mb hard disk for $1595
A few other notable things are:
- "Support package" - Instructional VHS, Deltagold GoldDesk (Emulates a graphical mac-style interface with mouse functions), 18 month warranty, package may have come with the first line of the Deltagolds
- GEM/3 Desktop - 1989, from Digital Research Inc, graphical interface rebranded as DG/Desk, bundled with Deltagold line.
- DR DOS - 1989, from DRI, rebranded as DG/DOS, intended to be included in ROM in their next generation of PCs, bundled with Deltagold line.
- 18 month warranty on Deltagold Computers, toll-free line: 1-800-255-DELTA
- P.O. Box 809, 260 Forbes Blvd, Mansfield, MA 02048; (617)339-5575. Verified from three sources.
- 300 N. Continental Blvd, suite 200, El Segundo, CA 90245; (213)322-4222
Further investigation
After some time I actually found some of the Deltagold Connection software disks at a local antique shop, and bought them for a few cents. An amazing find because it's the only time ive ever seen them besides in this blurry photo, and great for preservation because I could very well be the only person with access to this software. But all this information so far is from the time period between 1987 and 1989, and the Deltagold trademark looks like it was abandoned in 1990, so what happened? The Company seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and vanish again in just a few years. Did they go bankrupt? Were the portable computers ever even made? What is Deltagold? There is still a lot to find out
Looking deeper there's a few more leads we can take. The molding of the keyboard and the shape of the system of the elite look strikingly similar to the Franklin PC-8000, an ever so slightly more well-known pc, though this appears to just be another similar IBM clone, but there's a few more systems that appear to be coincidentally similar too, made by Acer Multitech. Below is some images of these systems, monitor, and the multiple keyboards that match up with the molding of Deltagolds'. Not only this but after looking up the ffc id of the keyboard, I discovered that it went through a rebranding in 1987 by none other than Acer themselves. So theres a good chance that the Deltagold machines were OEM'd by Acer, as the monitor fcc id leads to a still-in-business manufacturer of computer monitors. That's about as far as that lead goes though, as I am unable to find any other information linking the two or even what to do with the information I do have.
September 13th 2020
is when this video was uploaded to youtube, and contains in full a recording of the instructional VHS tape included with the first round of systems. This is the only place on the internet to my knowledge that this video can be found, and shows much more of the Prestige and Premier than any of what we have seen before. This is one more peice of lost Deltagold media preserved, but there's still a lot more information to be found. Below I will upload images of my own Deltagold Elite system.
Oh and I also found this ad
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November 3rd, 2022
It's been like what, three years now? Recently I've been contacted by two other deltagold users, one that had just aquired a Premier system (yeah, THAT premier system, the one I've been struggling to find more than a few photos of in the last few years, they own one, minus monitor and keyboard, photos to come soon), and the other being the Elite owner that I had referenced in the article before in which they were showing the system on youtube. The Premier owner (TheOldskoolPC on youtube) was kindly able to back up the software suite that I had aquired and upload them for preservation. The Elite owner (THEtechknight on youtube) had his unit throw a video out error and blow a chip, but was able to verify that the motherboard is identical to an acer 710. This corroborates earlier information and at this point is basically enough to verify that deltagold systems were mostly acer-built machines, which were spruced up with a more attractive case design and sold under another name. No data at all reguarding any of Deltagold's portables or "II" systems has shown itself, so its reasonable to assume that these are vaporware for magazines, before the company eventually went under. This pretty much closes the case, though I will still continue to update this article, especially when any new info comes up
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Photos of my system
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I am missing the F1 key, though the quick guide inside the front panel is still there. The monitor is a really nice yellowy amber display and the offbrand blue-alps in the keyboard are some of the best feeling switches I own.
Overall it is in really nice condition and I intend to upkeep that as much as possible
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