My second most favourite is the Hermes Ambasador, it's huge, very heavy

There is a Hermes Ambassador sitting in a bar about an hour from my house that I long to rescue. I'd need to create quite a diversion to sneak it out, though.

KatLondon wrote:

Uwe, but what is your absolute favourite? Is there a kind you just love betyond reason?

Honestly said, I have a hard time making such a determination without having a gun pressed to my head. Like music, films, and so many other things in life, there are too many great examples of the art form that it seems like an impossible decision to make. Objective analysis will eliminate quite a few models, but then you're still left with an impressive field of machines that are exemplary typers. At this point subjective viewpoints and personal biases can be used to cross off a few more contenders from the list. 

There's no question that I have a soft spot for Olympia models, and in particular the SG1 for those long hours spent at the keyboard punching out barely palatable prose. I've also always been partial to the SM line because they combine great performance with a wonderful design, but there are so many other machines that I love to use just as much.

And then there are the enigma choices. For example, I own a large number of Olivetti models, not because they type well - most don't - but because of their wonderfully intriguing designs.

It would be far easier to narrow down a favorite if the critera for its selection was more rigid. Deciding on a typewriter I had to use all day long, or a model to keep admiring for its beauty, would definitely be an easier task than coming up with just one overall favorite.  

KatLondon wrote:

I have a ittle Empire Aristocrat that I love - it's so great to the touch - but it is really a bit past it.
And the m key keeps falling apart at the hinge

Ah! The typewriter in a tin box. They were small enough to fit under the seat in an airliner and reached parts of the planet that other typewriters couldn't reach. I have had mine for 3 weeks now and I am not sure if I have a problem with it or not. I really need some advice from other owners. When I took the lid off it the smell of typewriter oil was overpowering, well actually rather pleasant. I had forgotten its unique smell and I wonder what it really was. I remember it as a clear thin oil rather like the Hornby oil for model train engines. It seems to have been serviced then stored away a long time ago. It was immaculate internally and a new ribbon had been fitted with metal spools. Now everything looks and works as it should but it seems a little stiff and I find it difficult to type evenly. I have heard from another owner their's is the same. It this normal?  I wonder if it needs lubrication but it looks okay or if it will free up after I have run another tens sheets or so through it. I can't compare it with the Empire baby which has a very light touch as when I took the lid off it smelled of bicycle oil or Singer sewing machine oil and was swimming in it. It's clearly had seven bells knocked out of it for the over half a century, the paint is worn away on the space bar where the right thumb would press and just about everywhere else where it would be touched on a regular basis. I think this is going to be my favourite machine. I was surprised to hear about the trouble with the m key hinge, I thought they were pretty bomb proof.

 

Uwe wrote:

retro wrote:

I don't have a favourite brand but I do have favourite machines  

current typewriter buyers – even collectors – are more often swayed by the visual appeal and the perceived rarity of a machine than they are with its performance and durability, which is really what the subject of this thread is about. 

I fully appreciate that most will choose a machine purely because it looks nice. Some are pure objects of art and there is nothing wrong with that, how well or if they work at all is of secondary importance. The rarest machines in the UK are office machines, whether they represent an investment for a collector is another matter. When the typing pools disappeared and many companies would have over a hundred copy typists the machines were destroyed. They could not even be given away, because they may be resold and as a depreciating asset they had been written off and any value they had belonged to the Inland Revenue. Survivors are rare but hopefully some collectors will buy them. Most had to use whatever machine the company bought but some secretaries got to choose their machine and I once had the chance to choose mine. I chose an Imperial 66, the Marmite machine, you either hated or loved it. They had a tab bar above the keyboard, great for doing tabulated figure work like I did a lot of but hated by many because you had to take a hand off the home row instead of using a tab key. Normally, touch typing you never look at what you are typing but reading your shorthand notes. They usually came in green or battleship grey but mine was powder blue. The machines that seem to be going up in value are from the thirties and forties, which is fine if you like black.
 

I use mine for writing. All my primary writing is done on typewriters and I only turn to the Mac when it's time for digitalising the text.
That's why the typing action for me is more important than the looks (well, a bit of a lie since I own a Valentine and a Hermes 3000 for their looks and history alone).
So when it comes down to pure typing, I have to admit that my Erika 10 from '58 is flawless. It is semi portable and has work horse features. The only drawback with the Erika 10 however is the metal framing which tend to make it quite on the noisy side. But all in all German machines just get the job done. I've tried an SM9 at a friends house and I have a feeling that Olympia's will fill up a great deal of my writing future. 
I have an Splendid 33 with the most beautiful clacking sound ever. It types quick and I use it for "spur of the moment typing" since it is the smallest one I have. I actually bring it along with me quite a lot and I love it.

My Smith-Corona Clipper is a looker but is a battle to type on. It always does things irregularly and I can never trust it to work hard for several pages without difficulties. I know a lot of people like SC's from the 50's and I would love to try a mint condition Super-Silent, but the Clipper IS my experience with that line...

So favourite typer: Erika Model 10
Favourite looker: Royal Quiet De Luxe 1947'ish or Olivetti Ico MP1 (the jury's out).
Worst typer:  Smith-Corona Clipper 1956