Mini Review:  Remington Travel-Riter Deluxe portable typewriter.

This is my first review, and of my only typewriter of recent years, so be gentle with me!  Bought this for the loose change in my pocket five or six years ago and have used it regularly since.  Apologies for the dusty and unkempt condition; just been through a week-long typing session with it, and haven’t cleaned it up yet – warts and all this time.

Statistics: 325mm (12.8 “) wide overall / 320mm (12.6”) front to back overall / 110mm (4.3”) tall overall / 5kg exactly.

Line-spacer marked at 1, 1 ½, 2, 2 ½, 3.

Yes it’s portable, but for those used to carrying a lap-top, well, you’ll notice how much heavier this is.  Going on a trip away from electricity by car? – fine.  Going hiking? – forget it!  It’s heavy enough for you to damage your back if you’re not careful about how you lift it off the desk to set it aside.  I quickly learned to make sure that the space where I was going to put it was empty first.

Nothing out of the way in terms of where things are or what they do, as far as this novice can tell.  I do miss the tab and repeat space functions of my previous machine, which do not appear on this one, but it certainly covers all the basics. 

It’s simplicity itself to use, goes in and out of the case easily, and unfolding the return lever and unlocking the carriage (to prevent movement in transit) are both done in a flash.   The carriage lock is low down at the back on the right, and I have locked the carriage accidentally more than once when reaching for something on the desk near there – no big deal.  I don’t like the paper support bar (single) because you have to hook it out of its holder with a finger nail, and it’s rather tight and awkward to do.  It does have the grid-drawing guides, which I’m pleased about – I use these regularly.  The guide meant to help you line up a letter under one above (term for this?) is a little too high for ease of use, but this may be so with all machines – don’t know. 

Carriage return is really solid-feeling and reassuring – no flimsiness there at all.  Warning bell and lock come into play too soon for my liking; you get only three characters after the bell before it locks – perhaps there is an adjuster for this, but I haven’t found it yet if there is (help, please, if you know).
Strong metal frame and casing throughout; it feels solid and dependable.  The paint seems to be of very good quality; no chips, wear or discolouration at all, to my eye, on a machine that has been used a very great deal.

The carrying case is fiddle-free and the lock works well. It is solidly made from some leather-like composition (possibly real leather) and has a decent handle.  Interestingly, the inside of the case lid has four bold corner marks which fooled me at first – but I guessed eventually that they were indications of the corners of the machine itself; you are invited by them to place the machine on the lid when the case is open and thus have a sloping desk allowing a more comfortable angle.  There is some noise-deadening too when used this way; on a hard surface it makes quite a racket.

Would I buy this again if I lost it? – yes, but not if I saw a similar machine with those missing functions I mentioned.

Anything not covered – just ask!

Last edited by beak (08-4-2013 01:26:14)