The Canon S-300 (introduced in March 1987 and also sold as the UTAX T-3300) occupies the same ambiguous “portable-compact” territory as machines like the Brother CE-70. Functionality-wise, it sits at the top of the S-series …
The Canon S-200 (also sold as the UTAX T-3200, below) is a lower-spec model, without an LCD screen, and without any of the extra (Text, Mode, margin and tabulation) keys to the left and right of the main keyboard.
According to specifications the S-300 boasts (this example in my collection is *dead* so I can’t test this):
- A top speed of 14 cps
- An impressively low noise reading of 50 dBA
- A 31 character LCD screen
The “truly compact” AP-1500 (16 cps) is actually less compact (in terms of its footprint) and takes a larger ribbon, however the difference in “class” shows when you compare them side by side …
Weight-wise these two typewriters are similar, however the S-300 shares more in common with the AP-150 (July 1985, 15 cps), and takes the same ribbon. I guess the category it fits into could be “personal compact” as opposed to “office compact”: In other words, a cheaper, brighter, lower-level, more consumer-friendly version of a compact typewriter.
Ribbon cassettes are still reasonably easy to find. The typewriters themselves, on the other hand, are becoming increasingly scarce.
7 responses to “Canon Fodder (Part Eight)”
Sorry Dana, wish I knew more about those memory cards. Keep a look out I’m sure an instruction guide will turn up sooner or later.
Hi there, I just found a Canon s-68s at a garage sale and I am wondering if you have any leads on where I might find a manual for it and if you know what types of memory cards it takes. If you have the time to educate me I’d be appreciative, but I understand if you are busy of course
I have gone through your site and your AP listing and I’ve managed to identify the keyboard as being from an AP 350. The second keyboard in that photo is off a cut-down AP 350 variant (some of the side keys are blank and there is no screen), and the third photo is the same unit (even though that was already sold off … not sure what’s going on there).
The only service manual I can find is for an A-200 series computer, and as per standard practice, no original manufacturer part numbers are given (just Canon P/Ns), so I am not holding out much hope that the AP 350 service manual would yield any secrets about the strange switch type under Enter/Backspace/Space even if it did exist. (I am told that it is NOT double-action, but it has to be …)
These are the kinds of weird switches you get, some of them being double-action: https://imgur.com/a/ldnlP / https://imgur.com/a/peni7 (the latter looks like some kind of AP 400 derivative)
Thanks. I mean, people find keyboards that are either replacement parts or, more typically, harvested from a Canon AP, and they never match up with any photos of a complete AP unit. The keyboards have Alps model stickers, which means that it will be possible to create a list of which AP model each keyboard came from.
keyboard geek. he’s talking about the clicky switches in the keyboard. Alps and Cherry are keyswitch makers. (:
Hi Daniel. Thanks for the interest. What do you mean by “any AP keyboard you encounter, never matches any known AP model”?
I’m just commenting here because it seems to be completely impossible to contact you directly.
Where would one go to get a Canon AP keyboard IDed? What I’d love to believe is possible (but it’s not), is to be able to take a photo of a Canon typewriter keyboard, then get an ID on it (any AP keyboard you encounter, never matches any known AP model), and then get the service manual for it and get the keyswitch part numbers.
There are also some photos of a Facit keyboard, that does not match any Facit contraption known to man, that I also want the switch details from (I doubt it’s a typewriter though). (In fact, there’s a long list of machines I want the keyswitch part numbers from, mostly Canon—for all the rare Alps types—and Royal/Triumph/Adler, for all the rare Cherry types.)
There are lots of typewriter collectors and enthusiasts out there, but interest in electric/electronic models is highly unusual.