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28-3-2018 08:26:54  #1


Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

Hello all, to date I have owned a SM2 and a SM7, but I have mainly heard other collectors talk about the SM3/4s and SM8/9s; are these better than the SM2 and 7?

Thanks in advance.
OliverNo.9

 

28-3-2018 10:46:05  #2


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

Hi Oliver

​Alan Seaver gives quite a good introduction to and description into the Olympia line of typewriters on his site "Machines of Loving Grace". This is one of the very first typewriter sites I found when I first became interested in typewriters back in 2006. Hope this gives you some insight. There are other members here who have a lot more knowledge on these machines than me, so I trust they will chime in and help expand your understanding of these machines. All the best,

​Sky


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

28-3-2018 11:07:06  #3


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

skywatcher wrote:

​Alan Seaver gives quite a good introduction to and description into the Olympia line of typewriters on his site "Machines of Loving Grace". ​Sky

While I do like Seaver's site, one thing to point out on that page is that I believe his SM2 is actually an SM1.

For a good overview of the evolution of the SM models, I really like the series of posts at X Over It.

 

28-3-2018 11:20:50  #4


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

Hi SF

That's a pretty exhaustive study on the SM line. Good link, thanks,

Sky


We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
 

28-3-2018 13:04:34  #5


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

OliverNo.9 wrote:

... I have mainly heard other collectors talk about the SM3/4s and SM8/9s; are these better than the SM2 and 7?

​You've probably heard more chatter about those other models because there are more of them around, not because they're superior designs. It's important to note that the SM2 is in large part the same machine as the SM3 and SM4; the three models differ in their feature sets, which means they aren't necessarily better, they just came with more conveniences. Even though the SM7 predates the SM8 and SM9, it's an extremely similar typewriter and I would never describe the two newer models as being appreciably better in their basic functions.

SoucekFan wrote:

While I do like Seaver's site, one thing to point out on that page is that I believe his SM2 is actually an SM1.


There are other inaccuracies on that page. His claim that "the SM3 and SM4 have a clever leveling device built into the keys" is completely incorrect. I've seen this mistake parroted by a number of typewriter bloggers who clearly relied on his website for their information.
 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

28-3-2018 14:43:36  #6


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

I think of the SM7 as a very different machine from the SM8/9 because the SM7 is a carriage shift machine, while the other two are segment shift. In other words, the 7 is closer to the SM2/3/4 in design and feel (though looks more like the 8/9).

 

28-3-2018 14:44:37  #7


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

Uwe wrote:

OliverNo.9 wrote:

... I have mainly heard other collectors talk about the SM3/4s and SM8/9s; are these better than the SM2 and 7?

​You've probably heard more chatter about those other models because there are more of them around, not because they're superior designs. It's important to note that the SM2 is in large part the same machine as the SM3 and SM4; the three models differ in their feature sets, which means they aren't necessarily better, they just came with more conveniences. Even though the SM7 predates the SM8 and SM9, it's an extremely similar typewriter and I would never describe the two newer models as being appreciably better in their basic functions.

SoucekFan wrote:

While I do like Seaver's site, one thing to point out on that page is that I believe his SM2 is actually an SM1.



There are other inaccuracies on that page. His claim that "the SM3 and SM4 have a clever leveling device built into the keys" is completely incorrect. I've seen this mistake parroted by a number of typewriter bloggers who clearly relied on his website for their information.
 

First, are you overlooking the fact that the SM1 through SM7 are carriage shift and the SM8 and SM9 are segment shift. That's about the only significant difference but it is significant. Whether it's important is a different matter; they all work well.

Second, that "leveling device"---do you suppose he is confusing the so-called piano key action (which I have my doubts about anyway) with the fact that those Olympias have spring-loaded keytops?

 

17-5-2018 03:37:52  #8


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

There are many differences. I own an SM4, and the tab stops on the sides of the space bar serve as clear and empirical evidence that there are differences. It seems that everybody has neglected to mention the fact that the SM4 has a device so as to allow you to bring up the paper support automatically. I am certain that if I discussed this with an Olympia engineer, they would no doubt be able to find some more internal differences between the types.


I am a dangerous man when turned loose with a typewriter.
- Charles Bukowski
 

17-5-2018 07:33:43  #9


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

I have both the Sm3, 4, and 7. Trying to get rid of all three. As I manual portable, I am in the very slim minority of not appreciating them. I'd rather type on an Erika, Alpina, or Torpedo. But nothing beats the standard sg1, or atleast its at the top among others


Art is horsesh*t, buy tacos instead---Bukowski 
 

17-5-2018 09:22:47  #10


Re: Olympia SM2s Vs. SM3/4s - does anyone notice a difference?

H D Thneedington. wrote:

There are many differences. I own an SM4, and the tab stops on the sides of the space bar serve as clear and empirical evidence that there are differences. It seems that everybody has neglected to mention the fact that the SM4 has a device so as to allow you to bring up the paper support automatically. I am certain that if I discussed this with an Olympia engineer, they would no doubt be able to find some more internal differences between the types.

You're right that there are differences in features among the 2/3/4, and the keyset tabulator is a big one. For sure, if tabs are important to one's work, setting them by a push of a button is a big help. (The SM4 has a lever that allows you to clear all the tabs at once too.) In terms of typing feel, though, I think they're pretty much the same, since they are the same mechanical design. As noted elsewhere in the string, the segment shift machines (8 and 9) are different and, in terms of carriage shift anyway, feel very different.

Regarding the paper support, I have an SM3 "De Luxe" (so marked on the segment) which has that spring-loaded mechanism. So that feature isn't unique to the SM4.

Whether ultimately you like the carriage shift feel or not, the carriage shift SMs are just beautifully made typewriters, no question about it. I had an SM7 that had problems and I sold it, but I'd like to get another.

 

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