You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?



28-1-2015 12:11:08  #41


Re: Olympia SG1

I have a Matura Super, and it is an incredible machine. I was very impressed by its performance when I first got it and even thought, for a while, that it was the best standard in my collection. However, the more I used it - and compared it to other standards - I realized that the SG1 in particular was still the better machine, in part because of its cushioned keys. One other consideration is that it's far more difficult, in North America at least, to find a Triumph standard than an Olympia.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

28-1-2015 18:04:53  #42


Re: Olympia SG1

Hmm, now you've really piqued my curiosity. Would you mind expanding about the cushioned keys a bit? Triumph standards are plentiful and cheap as chips where I live, so it's not availability that's the issue. Oddly enough, the Olympias (the big ones at least) seem to be tougher to find. Thanks again for the input!


Thunder-clacker.
 

29-1-2015 13:05:48  #43


Re: Olympia SG1

The SG1, along with a few of the SM models, had cushioned keys. Essentially, there was a spring-loaded bucket under the key that compressed during the type stroke which provided a more 'comfortable' typing experience. I've read a few bloggers - actually quite a few - claim that this was a levelling system, which proves just how much disinformation the internet is responsible for. ;-)


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
     Thread Starter
 

29-1-2015 16:55:43  #44


Re: Olympia SG1

Actually, I think it is the far more popular Machines of Loving Grace website that is the source of most of this mis-information. It is the website I had gone to when I thought that the Olympias had a key-leveling device built in. The site also presents a SM1 as a SM2 (unless it is an earlier version I don't know of, I'm no expert)


 
 

29-1-2015 17:51:13  #45


Re: Olympia SG1

Agree on the above. I do not wish to criticize too severely, as there is a lot of interesting reference material there, but there have been several mis-identified machines posted, on several occasions, most notably a Triumph Standard 14 as a 12 (ok, same mechanics, but the body shell is night and day different).
I think I have to try one of these Olympia monsters, as I am now very curious. I hate how they look. I don't like the Matura (although I do think the cream/taupe coloured Matura Supers are pretty elegant) much either, but it is just such a kickass (am I allowed to say that here?) machine in every way... maybe I'll get over it.

Last edited by MrNothsbury (29-1-2015 19:54:22)


Thunder-clacker.
 

29-1-2015 18:00:31  #46


Re: Olympia SG1

I just had a look at the page you linked to and agree that the so-called SM2 pictured is actually an SM1, albeit a very nice one (my earlier one doesn't have the nice trim along its side). If there was some rare crossover model that looked like a SM1, but was sold as a SM2, I've never heard of it. It's not an impossibility, I suppose, but the author of that website doesn't provide any insight as to why he thinks that particular typewriter is a SM2.

I also found where the page mentions the "leveling system" supposedly used for the SM3. I remember the first time I had read such a claim online and wondered what they were talking about. I'd always thought them to be cushioned keys as it was a popular feature for some time and there were even after-market cushion key tops available. As a result I spent some time carefully measuring the deflection angle of the keys when they're pressed and found that they do not - as claimed - remain level (parallel to the desktop). I was certain that they were completely off base, and confirmed it later when I found cushioned keys mentioned in Olympia literature for the SG1.

The internet in general, and typewriter collecting specifically, is rife with speculation that by repetition suddenly becomes unresearched and unproven facts. It drives me nuts at times. I'm not saying that I'm immune to the practice, but I do my best to avoid it; everyone makes mistakes, I make plenty of them, but if you don't know something to be fact, don't try to claim it as such. There are a number of contributors to the database that do such things. They make up model names, claim crazy lineages for the machines in their collection, and otherwise make purely speculative comments. My beef with this, given the database is an important reference site, is that such comments will only cause the neophytes reading these comments to believe something to be fact when it's really nothing more than pure speculation.

Blogs are even worse; I used to read a number of them and lost track of all the incorrect statements being made. Even some of the websites run by well-known collectors contain errors, and can mislead you into believing something that isn't true. I believe that by working together we collectors can slowly filter out the fiction from fact, but some collectors don't take kindly to having their opinions questioned, so it's not an easy process.

Okay, rant off...   


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
     Thread Starter
 

30-1-2015 08:21:35  #47


Re: Olympia SG1

Ahhh - by 'leveling system' the reference is to a parallel key action mechanism. As in the SC Super 5s, for example. I have to say that as much as I love the Super 5s, I feel this whole parallel key action thing is really nothing worthy of note. If I notice at all, I notice that it doesn't matter one bit to me. Find me a machine that doesn't bind with adjacent typebar letter combinations and that would be worth mentioning... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  i...... ....m..... brrrrrrrrrr, et cetera.

Anyways: another question about that Matura Super: my Matura has the ribbon selector on the left hand side, exactly like the Standard 12/14 machines do. I can't see anything indicating ribbon selection on the photos of Matura Supers I've seen. And: rumour has it that at least some of them had double spacing mechanisms like the SG-1s. Confirm/deny?

Cheers!


 


Thunder-clacker.
 

30-1-2015 09:57:06  #48


Re: Olympia SG1

MrNothsbury wrote:

another question about that Matura Super: my Matura has the ribbon selector on the left hand side, exactly like the Standard 12/14 machines do. I can't see anything indicating ribbon selection on the photos of Matura Supers I've seen. And: rumour has it that at least some of them had double spacing mechanisms like the SG-1s. Confirm/deny? 

The ribbon colour selector is on the left hand side of the keyboard, a three-position lever with a red arrow pointing up, and a black arrow pointing down on it. The one I have does not have the double-space feature, and I'm not that familiar with their history, so I don't know if there were variations of the machine that did. It does have a decimal tabulator, which I assume is common to the Super. I think that I'll have to take a few pictures of it and post them in a different thread here.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
     Thread Starter
 

Board footera

 

Powered by Boardhost. Create a Free Forum