I agree with Uwe, I bought an electronic Casio typewriter and it was so dull.   They keys were very poor and you just questioned why you weren't using a computer.  When using a carbon ribbon, the print was actually nicer than the print produced by a laser because it had a slight sheen.  However, it was just so boring to use and I absolutely hated the few milliseconds of delay between pressing the key and it typing.  It just felt wrong.

I wouldn't mind trying an electro-mechanical one though.  I think I would enjoy the noises of the solenoids and the hammering of the keys and the uniform type.

I'm after a hybrid ribbon type that doesn't use those Cronomatic cassettes.  I'm not even bothered if it has a manual carriage return, in fact, the automatic ones seem so violent I wonder how long they last smacking against whatever they hit when they stop.

TypewriterKing wrote:

...but I can tell you this, overheard by an older television repairman: You start unsoldering and soldering parts, you're going to be fixing on the unit for the rest of its life. When a part becomes weak, it will weaken other parts, and when that weak part is replaced with a stronger part, it will continue to weaken the parts made weak by the originally weak part.

I don't know. I am sure he believed that and it may be true for the human body (at least the musculoskeletal system), but not sure about electronics. Sounds like a rationalization for the loss of in depth troubleshooting skills and the tendency to replace entire subunits. Or maybe it's just statistical correlation - when one component fails, others are probably near their end of life. But my one experiment with serious auto repair did end just that way: with a friend's help I pulled off the cylinder block, took it into a shop to have the valve seats (?) reground, put it back together, and... miraculously it worked, and it had stopped burning oil! Woohoo! For a few days anyway until the better compression blew the old cylinder rings. Also my last experiment with engine repair.

This was an older car and a long time ago - with today's motors you would be a fool to attempt disassembling the complex spaghetti engineering encapsulating the old brain motor. We are still burning gasoline in a reciprocating internal combustion engine so there has to be a cylinder block under there somewhere, but easier to junk the car. No user repairable parts inside.
 

Hi,

Preferably portable, but I love both of those designs.  The bottom one, the Praxis? I've seen a few times although I know that isn't portable.

Why are you not keen on Olivettis in terms of performance? what is your experience of them?

Yes, I was worried I might open up a can of worms, but hopefully not.

My Lettera 32 is in the corner weeping.

Incidentally, I was given one the other day free in excellent condition, the Spanish version, and the case is completely intact.  The whole machine looks nearly new.  How lucky am I.

Platenboy wrote:

.... snip ....
I wouldn't mind trying an electro-mechanical one though.  I think I would enjoy the noises of the solenoids and the hammering of the keys and the uniform type.

.... snip ....

There are no solenoids in most of these typewriters. There is a spinning fluted shaft that gives the levers a healthy "thwack!" though. Yeah, it is a different, interesting experience to move back and forth between manual and electric typewriters. Those electronic ones that have that delay are infuriating. I suppose one could get used to it or maybe think it is normal if that the first typewriter one used.