u/Edu_Robsy

As promised, here are some pictures of my latest typewriter. It's an Olivetti Pluma 22, the Spanish name for the well known Lettera 22. "Pluma" means in Spanish both quill (or fountain pen) and also feather. I guess that "writing" and "lightness" together made a lot of sense for the marketing guys back then. Curiously enough, the Lettera 32 was launched in Spain as Lettera instead of Pluma. All the following portables were branded as Lettera too.

It arrived in very good condition with just a small issue that affected the bell that was soon repaired. It came with the original metal spools, but at the moment I'm using some plastic spools with nylon ribbon made in China. I found it at a second hand online marketplace for 40 EUR including shipment.

The typeface was a total surprise: it's a beautiful Cubic made by RaRo foundry in Berlin (Alfred Ransmayer & Albert Rodrian Vereinigte Typenfabriken). It's 10 CPI instead of the more common Olivetti's Quadrato 12 CPI. The capital M and the capital W are very distinctive.

It was made in Barcelona. Olivetti produced in Spain most of their portables, not only for the Spanish market, but also for exportation to many other countries, in sales that reached very high figures for the time. It peaked 5,500 employees at its prime, producing more than 600,000 typewriters just in 1963.

I need to improve the cleanliness of the print, as you can see in the samples. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

If you don't mind, I'd leave you now, because there's still some nice light and I want to keep writing with my beautiful Olivetti.

I was looking for an inexpensive carry case/cover/sleeve for my Freewrite Alpha, so that I can put it in my backback without getting scratched. I opted for the most inexpensive one in Amazon, Aucase brand, size 11.6"-13". It was just 6 EUR with free shipment and it fits perfectly: waterproof, padded and with a nice zipper. IMHO much better than the official felt and leather sleeve for just a fraction of its price.

There are other colors available: I just picked the one that had the biggest discount. I'm more of a plain color guy, favoring black over all options, but I wasn't sure that it would fit. It does!

I bought a Spanish Olivetti Lettera 22 (branded as Olivetti Pluma 22 in Spain) in a second hand markeplace. It was 40 EUR including shipment.

After three weeks without changes in the shipment tracking status, the marketplace reimbursed the payment and also paid the seller because of the lost package. They charge you a separate fee for the insurance and so they used it.

I tried to get in contact with the shipment company anyway to complain. They discarded my complain after a couple of weeks, but it was finally delivered today nevertheless. It wasn't lost, after all. So I get it for free.

It gets even better: it's in very good condition and it has a really interesting typeface. I bought it thinking that it will be a common Pica (10 CPI), but the slugs show the number 85 and an anagram of the RaRo foundry, the Alfred Ransmayer & Albert Rodrian Vereinigte Typenfabriken in Berlin. In its own inventory of typefaces it's defined as Pica Cubic (10 CPI). It's indeed very different from the Quadrato font present in other Olivetti typewriters, number -777- without anagram (12 CPI).

The slugs need some cleaning, but even though it looks clean enough and beautiful. I'll post a full review later on.

I've acquired an HP 360LX palmtop and I'm currently testing it as a viable writerdeck. It uses Windows CE 2.0 that includes Pocket Word, Pocket Excel and Pocket PowerPoint in ROM. It has 8 MB RAM to use as program RAM and storage. It's touchscreen has a 640x240 resolution, 16 shades of gray and it's not as clear as in previous HP devices without a touch layer, such as the HP 95LX, 100LX or 200LX. In any case, it's still better than the one in my Casio Cassiopeia A20. It has a white backlight that is not very intense but good enough to improve readability and sufficient to type in pitch black darkness.

The CPU is a SH3 running at 60 MHz, good enough for my purposes. Boot time is 0 seconds after the initial boot. It stays in suspended state and so you push space and you're ready to type. That's very convenient for a writerdeck.

I wanted a compact writerdeck that could be carried in a (big) pocket. The keyboard is good enough for touchtyping. I manage to use just three fingers on each hand (big hands, big fingers) and without further practicing I reach a decent typing speed. The keyboard is a bit mushy, as suspected, but has enough feedback to let you type without looking at it. I wanted this particular device because it was localized in Spanish and so it had a Spanish keyboard with all the required special chars (Ñ, grave tilde, umlaut, ¿, ¡). Windows CE doesn't let you change neither the language nor the keyboard layout.

Pocket Word is limited for a wordprocessor, but good enough for a writerdeck. In the image you can see it running at fullscreen with a 14 pt bold Arial font. Very clear and easy on the eyes. No distractions on sight. The only missing function is wordcount. I've managed to find an additional application called WORDCOUNT.EXE, coded by Jason P. Nottingham in 1998, that works perfectly both with RTF and WPD (proprietary Word Pocket extension). You run it outside Pocket Word, but it's not a convoluted workflow because this little machine is good enough for multitasking (blessed be Alt+Tab).

It runs for many hours with just two AA alkaline batteries. It uses an additional CR2032 coin battery for preserving the RAM contents when you change the main batteries. I estimate that with my Eneloop it can run for 10-12 hours with an sparse use of the backlight. Using regular batteries for me is a plus, because it gives you unlimited run time: you can carry some extras to use anytime.

The easiest way to transfer files from the palmtop to my modern day PC is using a Compact Flash card. The HP 360LX has a native CF slot and also a PCMCIA card in which you can also add a CF with a PCMCIA adapter. I use an inexpensive CF card reader in the PC side that works great both in Windows and in Linux. RTF is probably the best format because it includes the character codification and is supported by most wordprocessing software. You can look around for a serial cable, but it's not practical. There are also PCMCIA modems and ethernet cards, but moving a CF card is easier and probably faster too.

There's supposed to be plenty of dedicated text and code editors available, but finding a download site for Windows CE 1.0 or 2.0 software is not that easy. Most of them are behind a paywall at HPC Factor, but if you're resourceful, you might find them in other sites. Not all software can be installed natively and you'll need a PC with an old Windows system and a custom serial cable (RS232).

It's a nice pocket computer that can be used today as a writerdeck with ease: add AA batteries and a CF card and you're ready to go. It's compact (183 mm x 94 mm x 29 mm), not really lightweight, at 460 grams (including stylus, CF and batteries) and with a decent enough keyboard. I wouldn't use it as my main writerdeck but it's an option if you're on the go with limited carry space and plan to write a bit.

I hope that you liked the minireview of this machine that has been around since the end of last century. It's still useful today if all you want to do is writing.

(Lamy Safari fountain pen for scale / BYOK also for size comparison)

Typing in my (sound dampened) Freewrite Alpha Lunar by the swimming pool, under the cool shadow of an olive tree. To add further sensory details, some sparrows are tweetting in the distance in an otherwise quiet morning. Not far from my deck chair there is a thick array of basil, pippermint and rosemary that brings a melange of fragrances that takes me far, far away.

Currently writing a novella about a guy who is facing a situation in which a life changing decision has to be made within a short deadline. I am facing the same scenario (not health related) in real life and I am using my character to explore the different potential outcomes in order to choose the best avenue.

The Alpha (just like the Alphasmart Neo/Neo 2) is perfect for lap typing. Light, portable and convenient: I can beam my texts from here.

It needs some love. Looking for a home, if you are close by.

Impressive fountain pen shop in Florence with everything you could need. Vast array of inks, most brands, notebooks and even an in-shop repair workshop. From Lamy Safari to Namiki Urushi Emperor with everything in between.

Spotted yesterday, will visit today.

This is my new Olivetti: Pluma (Lettera) 22 made in Spain, one of the early models (round keys, beige color, branded as "Hispano Olivetti"). It works great and feels smoother than my other two Lettera 32.

The problem is that if the line space selector switch is set to 1, when I use the carriage return lever, the paper is a bit loose and the line separation between lines is not consistent. If set to 2, if doesn't move that much, and if set to 3 it works as it was supposed, with consistent line spacing. But I'm a 1 line separation guy, so I have to use 3 and be carefull with the lever.

Is there any fix to make the paper moverment firm enough in all the positions? The higher the line height, the tougher that it gets to turn the platen knob. At 0 it rolls with no stops. At 3 is hard to turn and it doesn't let you turn in the other directions.

Is there an easy fix for this or shall I just set the switch to 3 and carefully count on every carriage return just two steps?

Thank you.

Today I've received this beauty. It needs some serious cleaning, but even like this it's in perfect mechanical condition and it feels smoother that my newer Lettera 32.

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It's Spanish made, so the brand appears as Hispano Olivetti, made in Barcelona. The round keys and the beige color point to one of the older batches. The serial number is just five digits: 72154.

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It sports a Elite 12 typeface (the foundry number says "7.", any additional info will be welcome), Spanish keyboard and comes along with the carrying case with a working zipper that needs to be sewn, the gray dust cover, two booklets and a set of two brushes with its own case.

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I've seen many people saying that the Lettera 32 is supposed to be smoother than the 22, but my experience is the opposite: the 22 works like a charm compared to my two 32s, that need a stronger action.

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1. So, which one is smoother, in your opinion?

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2. Can you confirm that "7." is a Elite 12 typeface?

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3. Any clue about Spanish 5-digit serial numbers? I'd love to identify a date.

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4. Cleaning tips? I know: no WD-40 or the likes, but, rubbing alcohol for metal parts and mineral spirit for the slugs is OK?

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Thank you all.

In celebration of Juneteenth, what are your favorite Sci-Fi works that serve as a vehicle of social criticism, where the author is a menacer of the public's conscience?

For me, the obvious ones are Farenheight 451, Animal Farm (arguably more Fantasy than Sci-Fi), with a more niche example being Armor (Steakley).

Would like to hear this community's recommendations.