1 - TypewriterGuy
- Typewriter Talk Vet
Offline 
- From: United States
- Registered: 24-4-2015
- Posts: 1,250
Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
Whats the worst one you have used in terms of type action?
Mine was a Smith Corona Skywriter. Ugghhh. Horrible horrible type action.
So whats yours?
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- Spazmelda
- Key Master
Offline
- From: Ohio
- Registered: 25-2-2015
- Posts: 830
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
My least favorite in my collection is the Hermes Rocket. No sir, I don't like it! It's cute though.
- beak
- Key Master
Offline
- From: Qld Australia
- Registered: 24-3-2013
- Posts: 912
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
Once tried an Olivetti Valentine, which was rubbish - though I guess in making any of these judgements you have to be certain that the machine is in A1 condition; perhaps this one was not.
Sincerely,
beak.
- Valiant
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Toronto
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 153
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
A Singer and a Facit rank as my two top worst typewriter encounters. Both were clean and appeared to be in good working condition (i.e. all functions operated) but I was turned off both these makes as a result. Beak has a good point, though, about condition.The machines I encountered may not have been good examples of either make.
Ps: I was sorely tempted to buy the Singer regardless, as it came with the most beautiful case I think I have ever seen!
Last edited by Valiant (11-9-2015 10:31:53)
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the typewriter."
- ztyper
- Key Master
Offline
- From: Somewhere in New Jersey
- Registered: 01-10-2014
- Posts: 773
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
The worst I have ever used, was the Corona Zephyr DeLuxe. The action was pretty... lame. Too light, too cheap, too flimsy and stiff in all of the wrong places. (Though I guess every ultra-portable is "lame" compared to the Olympia SF)
Good thing I finally sold that thing today.
A high schooler with a lot of typewriters. That's pretty much about it.
- KatLondon
- Key Master
Offline
- From: London
- Registered: 11-10-2014
- Posts: 995
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
I have a couple of Splendids. They're not the *lightest* ultra-portables, are they...
- TypewriterGuy
- Typewriter Talk Vet
Offline
- From: United States
- Registered: 24-4-2015
- Posts: 1,250
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
My skywriter is in great condition... I think all those 50s-60s models were built cheaply then. Except for the sterling. Thats one of my favorite for type action.
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- •
Thread Starter- NDW76
- Platen Punisher
Offline
- From: Bangkok
- Registered: 18-8-2014
- Posts: 86
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
The worst typewriter I have ever used was the one that got me hooked on typewriters, so it couldn't have been too bad. It is a Brother 750 deluxe. I have read somewhere that they were mass produced and dumped on the Asian market.
I was planning on giving it to my daughter to play with. I told her that she could have this typewriter as her own. But she told me she wanted my Olympia SM3. Maybe in a few more years.
Pleased to meet you. Call me Nathan.
- Uwe
- Moderator
Offline
- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
TypewriterGuy wrote:
My skywriter is in great condition... I think all those 50s-60s models were built cheaply then. Except for the sterling. Thats one of my favorite for type action.
That's not even close to being an accurate statement. First off, you can't clump '50s and '60s machines together; in terms of typewriter history they're two completely different eras. All Smith-Corona models from the '50s were well built and exceptional machines in terms of typing performance. The Smith-Corona ultra-portables that were manufactured in the late '60s to counter the flood of inexpensive Brother typewriters were junk. Conversely, the regular-sized (6-series) portables were still very good typewriters.
As Beak and Valiant pointed out, until you've used many examples of the same model you shouldn't be making sweeping comments about their performance. We are talking about used machines after all, some have survived the years in better condition than others, and as a result are more indicative of their performance when they were new. Furthermore, when describing a worst-ever model it should be qualified by ranking it within its own sub-genre: No ultra-portable will ever stack up well against a standard in terms of type action.
With respect to the Skyriter, I would never describe it as a worst-ever model and I suspect that there's something wrong with your machine for you to have made such an association.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Uwe
- Moderator
Offline
- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Whats the worst typewriter you have used?
Brother 750 deluxe. I have read somewhere that they were mass produced and dumped on the Asian market.
I've never read anything about Brother's influence on the Asian market, but it was Brother's aggressive approach ("dumping") in the North American market that not only lead to lawsuits, but forced companies such as Smith-Corona to fight back with their own budget-friendly machines.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
