1 of 1- Rusty Keys
- Novice Typer
Offline - Registered: 04-5-2022
- Posts: 43
Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
Trying to decide on my next acquisition. I know I want an Underwood,late 1950s vintage, but cant decide among the Leader, Universal or Champion. What are your thoughts. (And dont suggest buying one of each! I just might take your advice). Seriously though, just one Underwood will do.
- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
Hi Rusty Keys
The way I understand the difference between the three is in the features built into each model. All 3 machines are built on the same frame, so it looks like the Leader has some empty positions in the frame. The Leader is a stripped down economy model so was the leader in price as it was the most affordable. The Leader has no tabulator, right margin stop, no lone lock or touch control. It also has minimal sound dampening as cost cutting measures.
I'm not sure which is the better equipped model, the Universal or the Champion, but it comes down to the added features like page support (I think) extra sound insulating felt and the other features like tabulator, touch control and so forth. Hope this gives you some information to work with. All the best,
Sky
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- Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
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Re: Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
Rusty,
For a portable that will be used primarily on your desk, spring for a machine with a tabulator function.
I do not mind a Tab function missing on a ultra-portable...but for any length of time typing at my desk, the Tab is a must for me.
And any sort of touch-control is always very nice to have with varying paper weight use and/or new ribbon/old ribbon times.
.
- ncwa
- New Member
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- From: Wenatchee, WA
- Registered: 27-1-2023
- Posts: 1
Re: Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
I own a 1936 & 1939 Universal and a 1938 Champion. Any one of them you choose will be a great machine. Just depends on your budget. I agree if you will be doing some serious typing, a tab is a nice quality of type improvement.
- SoucekFan
- Speed Champion
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- From: United States
- Registered: 27-12-2015
- Posts: 488
Re: Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
skywatcher wrote:
I'm not sure which is the better equipped model, the Universal or the Champion
The Champion was the most fully featured.
- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Underwood Leader, Champion or Universal?
... I want an Underwood,late 1950s vintage, but cant decide among the Leader, Universal or Champion. ...
Not discussed so far is that a '50s vintage Underwood portable can include at least four different case/shell designs, so I would argue that aesthetics could be a key deciding factor. Is your indecision solely based on which features each model had, or its overall design?
Older generation Leader/Universal/Champion models used the same case (shell) but differed in their available features, which categorized them as being either a budget, intermediate, or premium machine. However, in the '50s the cases used for those models differed too. And complicating things further, those designs were changed during the '50s too.
I think it would be helpful to narrow down which generation of these three models you're trying to choose a model from.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
