As promised, a few comparison pictures of the Brother Super 7300 alongside the Olivetti Lexikon 82.
I have to say I much prefer the Brother. Having said that, the Brother is in excellent working and cosmetic condition whereas the Lexikon 82 isn’t. In fact it died. Black goo in and around the power switch indicates something got fried!
So it goes and so it doesn’t type. But at least I snapped a few comparison pics to remember it by before I take it apart.
As I thought, the Lexikon 82 is lighter (just), has a flatter profile, and a more-or-less similar footprint.
The Super 7300 is more substantial in its size and in its build quality, and to my mind that’s what makes it better — plus it has a more tactile keyboard.
What struck me was how small the Olivetti element ball is compared with the Brother and IBM element balls. Oddly, many of the photos I took don’t show this. Take this image for example:
Olivetti, Brother and IBM element balls from Left to Right.
This image does show the difference, however that Olivetti ball still appear larger than it does to the naked eye. Strange that!
The Brother and IBM balls are of a similar size, (perhaps the Brother ball is a tad taller) and also similar in the respect that they have a jagged tooth bottom edge, whereas the bottom edge of the Olivetti ball is flat.
The Olivetti ribbon cassette is comparatively small too when compared against the Brother:
And apparently the Lexikon 82 element balls and ribbon cassettes are hard, if not impossible, to find, so the Brother Super 7300 wins on that score too. 😉
4 responses to “The Golf War: Olivetti vs Brother”
Hi Katie, thanks for reading. Hard to say where to get the ribbons other than to keep an eye out in the online auctions. I have the same problem with my Brother 7300. Good luck with it!
Thanks for the fun comparison!
Thanks also for scanning and sharing the instruction booklet for the Olivetti Lexikon 82. Today I picked one up for $25 at a thrift store. I am not a collector, just a writer, so bought to actually use. The book wasn’t with the case; I’m glad you shared.
When I tested it at the store, everything worked. Ribbon is just a bit light. I’ve read several of your posts, and note you say the printhead and ribbon tapes are hard to come by. Do you have a source? I would love to be able to use this beauty. I’m popping the proverbial cherry with this, my first typewriter.
Thanks in advance! Glad to have found your blog. It is refreshing to find clever and well-written pieces about interesting topics!
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Now that is a brilliant title. 😀🍹