selectric consoles

Andrew> I think Selectrics are pretty cool; I'd kinda like one I Andrew> could use as a printer, and if it could be a full serial tty Andrew> that would be even cooler. Andrew> So far, I've found that IBM made the 1050 and the 2741 Andrew> selectric-based console terminals, both of which were large, Andrew> heavy, and not very reliable. I would describe them as modest in size, fairly heavy but not outrageously so, and extremely reliable. They were also quite a lot faster than teletypes. I don't think I ever saw a selectric console fail, while Model 33s died regularly. (Then again, that made sense, because 33s are rated "intermittent use", they aren't supposed to be used 24 hours a day as so often happened in timesharing shops.) If you want sturdy, there's the Flexowriter, or (perhaps -- I have no real experience with these) the Teletype model 35. Both of those are bigger and heavier than a Selectric, and the 35 certainly is slower. paul