Wow, this is some thread! Hi Asher Black, very pleased to hear about your Kolibri. They have a very particular feel, don't they - I have two of them, but one needs a new drawband and I can't work out how it attaches. The one that works is really beat-up-looking but has the best typing action of any I've tried; good old fixer-uppers! I also have, which I got amazingly cheaply form a guy in Germany, a grey 1955 Groma Modell T which is like the Kolibri but even more wonderful to use, and more beautiful to look at, and is my pride and joy.

Also, I love my Hermes 300. And don't (while we're at it) overlook the Hermes 2000, a wonderful 50s machine that feels almost as great as the 3000 to use. The only thing is its carriage shift, which IS heavier than the 3000's basket shift - but it;s a dream. I got mine for £3 in a frankly incredible condition, and than paid The Typewriter Man to bring it back to life. It's one of the best. 

For big typing, also, the Olympias. The SM9. It's a dream. Basically, anything German. (See Beak's comment re his Alpina - I had one of those two and it is a total trouper, and insanely beautiful. It had a glorious touch. But it was too beautiful to keep and it went to a 12-year-old girl who wanted to write stories...) The smaller ones of anything are great but you want a really well-engineered mid-size machine for doing real work on. The thing about the Hermes & Olymppias is that they're so highly engineered, you absolutely trust them to do what they said they would. None of this space-skipping, there is great tightness and precision. And they are sort of buttery. 

I get what the guys say re the office standards, but in fact they kind of wear out my wrists. And you CAN write a lot on a smaller machine. The annals of writers and their machines yield loads of Letteras, SM3s and SM9s, 2000s, etc. Cormac McCarthy typed all his books on a Lettera 32, 

Another one I really like that I think gets overlooked, and which you could probably buy three a day of at reasonable prices, is the Remington Quiet Riter. I've got a 1959 model - well, I've had two, but the first one was taken over by my boyfriend's son and when we found an identical one in a local shop I gave him 'his'. The feel is ever so slightly different on the two, but fortunately I prefer the new one.

Right now I'd say my top five for sheer joy of use are:
1. 1960 Blue Bird (a rebranded Torpedo. hence German) (it's new, I'm still excited)
2. a new L32 that arrived this weekend, which turned out to be virtually never used. It's my 3rd L32 (see the earlier conversation) but it's the first I felt really secure on. it's what I knew a Lettera could be.
3. The 3000, always
4. the SM9, always
5. the Modell T, I guess. This leaves out the 2000. You see the trouble. 
(and I also really heart my Silent-Super which I rescued from the dead, but it's no Hermes.)

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the later Royal portables but I do love the earlier ones. For some reason, they feel much snappier: http://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2012/06/first-royal-portable-typewriter-90.html

My go-to portables:

1) Torpedo 18/Blue Bird (If you are able to try one, I would def recommend it) Less typos than the Olympia SM's
2) Rheinmetall  KsT (earlier ones)
3) Royal Earlier Portables

I'll take a non-skipping Hermes 2000 over a Hermes 3000 any day!  

Ultra portables(can't compare to the portables yet the advantage is that it can travel with you easily or when I want to put up my legs and type on my lap):

Antares Parva followed closely by the Skyriter (earlier models, the later ones I don't care for)

Please take my opinions with a grain of salt. Again, as others have stated, I'm discovering it all depends on individual tastes and the condition of the machines.
 

My Blue Bird is a rebranded 18b and it's wonderful to use. But it's quite loud, with a sharp metallic SMACK when the slug hits. The platen's not too bad actually, especially after some attention with the rubber rejuvenator - you others with 18s, do yours sound loud too? It's the only thing I don't really love about the machine. Not a deal-breaker, just a question...

KatLondon wrote:

My Blue Bird is a rebranded 18b and it's wonderful to use. But it's quite loud, with a sharp metallic SMACK when the slug hits. The platen's not too bad actually, especially after some attention with the rubber rejuvenator - you others with 18s, do yours sound loud too? It's the only thing I don't really love about the machine. Not a deal-breaker, just a question...

If your Bluebird has the flat metal part that rests atop the platen on a hinge (paper guide scale?) that may be what is causing the metallic sound. My 18b has a new JJ Short platen in it, but it still makes a metallic sound because that metal part vibrates against the platen as I type.

 

KatLondon wrote:

My Blue Bird is a rebranded 18b and it's wonderful to use. But it's quite loud, with a sharp metallic SMACK when the slug hits. The platen's not too bad actually, especially after some attention with the rubber rejuvenator - you others with 18s, do yours sound loud too? It's the only thing I don't really love about the machine. Not a deal-breaker, just a question...

No, mine doesn't have a metallic sound. The platen is hard though. I"m waiting to get a handful of keepers and then will have the platens done. This is one of them ... 

Side Note: The Mid-Century Triumph Perfekt and Alpina/AMC/Avona are wonderful typers as well but the problem I personally have is that the cover spools take up too much of the typed pages. I have a harder time seeing what was typed especially the Avona that i have. They are close to the Triumph 18 but IMO, the Triumph still beats them. 

I'm curious to try an older Torpedo model to compare to the Torpedo 18? They are difficult to find in the US.