Royal QDL or Smith Corona 5 series?
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Instagram- / just.my.typewriter
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I just found this channel and now I'm scared how much I'm going to spend on something I haven't thought about in 30 years
Yeah, 10 bucks is a deal no matter where you are! I'm currently cleaning a '54 5-Series Silent while watching this! For $20, it was a bargin; nothing too bad with it and it will find a new home soon.
Great review, Sarah! One thing I’ve noticed with many QDLs is they often can be picky regarding your typing style and escapement setup, causing skipping, especially if you are a touch-typist. They work best when you quickly release your fingers from the keys. Conversely, the Smith-Coronas seem less sensitive to typing style.
I'm also a smith corona girl!!!! Love the silents...silence.... Great video
The videography, effects, presentation, script, depth of knowledge and overall quality deserve your channel to have at least ten times more subscribers than you have. It's too bad (in a way) that your channel is about a fringe interest, because it's really easy to see that the time/effort/professionalism you put into making every video is equal to that of creators with 100K subscribers.
Two things I like about the QDL: its size and proportions are just perfect; not too wide, not too deep, it's the mid size machine you can fit almost anywhere. Second, it really lives up to its name, being one of the quietest machines I've ever used even with an old platen.
The S-C Series 5 does have superior engineering, build, and material quality overall. And they're ridiculously easy to work on! I've been liking them more lately for some reason...
On a different subject, are you ever getting a Royal KMM?
The S-C feels like a more solid machine and has some very nice design elements including a beautifully shaped return and a space bar that’s very nicely integrated into the body. The key tops are also possibly the best shaped plastic keys ever to be put on a portable. But the Royal beats it in looks. Compared with the clear, decisive lines of the QDL and its modern take on classic styling the five-series is almost formless, a rounded blob of a body which evokes cars of the 1990s which became so rounded and uninteresting they were referred to as half-used bars of soap. Nevertheless, if I could only have one machine it would be the S-C.
Love the video! I don't have any 50's Royals so I am ignorant about them...I do have several Remington's, however like the Quiet-Riter and the All New, and I really feel they are almost as good as the Smith Coronas. There are certainly a lot of them in the current marketplace so that tells me that they were just as competitive with the Royals and the Smith Coronas in the 50's. I hope you can do a video about the Remington's one day and compare the three manufactured models. The Remington's never got really colorful though.
I have tried several Remingtons and have rehomed all of them. I find the mechanics of them, specifically the ribbon mechanism, to be more complicated than they need to be!
The algorithm recently brought me to your channel and I’m really enjoying your content. Keep it up!
As someone who found a Silent-Super (with carrying case) ~20 years ago at a Goodwill, and owns no other typewriters, it's nice to be reminded very now and again that it's the best of the era. Of course, I only have one because they were among the most popular and durable and thus have always been more likely to be found in thrift shops, but it seems that the market leader was truly the best product (which isn't always the case).
Comparing these two natural competitors is a swell idea. I have both: a ‘53 QDL (gold-plated, no less!) and a ‘53 Silent Super in Sapphire Grey.
Your insights regarding the 5-series match many other reviewers opinions; it seems to be widely regarded as the best overall portable of that era, and for the reasons you mention: smart, superior engineering, easier to repair, better reliability, removable platen, etc. (Jay at Gramercy Typewriter here also told me that the 5-Series was clearly “the best portable,” and he oughta know!) I think I agree; all things considered, it’s the better typewriter. And I, too, am not a huge fan of Royal’s “Magic Margin”; it seems like overkill. Mine’s working just fine, but S-C’s simpler mechanism does the job just as well. (I wonder if Royal’s marketing folks decided to make the MM “a big deal,” thinking they could help increase sales. Sure feels that way.)
That said, there’s just something “special” about my QDL. I love typing on it, and its Canterbury Elite 12 typeface is my favorite of the ten machines I own. I can’t explain “why” I love my QDL, but it certainly has a subtle, winning quality to it. While I really like the keys on my S-C, I also love the “tombstone” shaped keys on my QDL. What’s more, it looks cooler and more stylish (my SS looks kinda like a melted blob next to it; I think Royal must’ve budgeted more $$ on looks), and it’s fun to type on, with a nice typing “feel”. (And yeah, that Canterbury typeface does make me swoon.)
(Oh, and regarding “triple spacing”? It’s useful if you ever try to actually “write” on your typewriter. After you finish your first draft, there’s plenty of space for you to “pencil in” your thoughts and changes between the lines. Then, when you type your second draft, you just follow your notes.)
Sarah, I hope you enjoy your QDL this time around!
Great video!! I’ve always been a Royal lover, but the Smith Corona 5 series is a hard one to beat. But, both were marvels of efficiency and design at their time! Thanks for posting! Hope your doing well.
I have the wonderful privilege to own a Royal QDL with the push-button flip-up top and a Royalite as well as a Smith-Corona Clipper, Sterling, and Skyriter. Perhaps it's nostalgia with my Sterling being the very first manual typewriter I've ever owned, but I am certainly a Smith-Corona Guy when it comes to these 50's models. I think the Chevy Bel-Air aesthetic of my Sterling and Clipper play a big role in it because I just love the lines and curves as opposed to the taller and more box-like style of my QDL. I also agree with you on the "solidness" of the Smith-Corona versus the QDL. However, my Royalite has a wonderful case with the Royal logo and an elite typeface that just makes it my favorite to travel with.
What's interesting is I use a 1938 Royal KHM as my standard daily driver. I don't have a Smith-Corona standard size typewriter outside of an electric daisywheel machine that gets plenty of use in another part of my house. I think I may have to add a Smith-Corona standard machine from the 50's to my typewriter treasure hunt list! Great video and I love these product reviews and comparisons! They're so much better than all the new-fangled gadget tech reviews that flood my UA-cam suggestions! Enjoy that QDL and I'm excited to see a video of your thoughts after you've given it your "fair shake!"
Just discovered your channel a couple weeks ago, as I’m starting to re-engage with my typewriter collection (54, too many!) after a long break. I second your comments about maintaining a Royal QDL! Bought a pink one for my wife 20 years ago, and it came with a non-functioning backspace key. Try as I might, I never could get it working. Keep those typewriter videos coming! Given your love for blue typewriters, I’m surprised you don’t seem to have any Olivetti portables (Lettera 22 or 32, or even the Studio 44). Cheers!
I did end up with an Olivetti built underwood in blue and decided to sell it- the Olivetti machines just aren't for me
I love the smith Corona 5 series too! And we just got a silent super at an estate sale for $20!!!
Thank you so much for the comparisons and snapshots of catalog entries comparing Royal and SC. I have a 1955 SC Silent-Super being delivered today and this will be my first manual since using my mother's 60's Sterling when I was a kid. I've watched some of your videos and they are VERY helpful and well done.
Another interesting video. Going to have fun comparing the different typewriters in my collection 😊
QDL nicer to type on but more temperamental. Mine is a 1952. I’m not a fan of the magic margins either.
SC more plodding but easier to work on, more dependable.
With a handful of 50's Smith-Coronas and 1948, 1949, and 1955 Royal QDLs in my own collection, I broadly agree with your assessment. I find that touch typing on the QDL is a bit more finnicky on the '48 and '49, but it became more solid by the 1955 machine I've got. The S-Cs are solid through and through in a way that my Royals aren't. I recently found a copy of the design patent for the 1948 QDL from Henry Dreyfuss filed on August 2, 1945 (Patent USD144165S) the other day. It turns out he lived just a few miles from my house in South Pasadena at the end of his life. I do love the look of his QDL over the S-Cs however.
As for the Magic Margin issue of not remembering where they're set, on most of the Royal models that have it, the back of the paper table typically flips back easily to allow one to see where the margin sets are as well as to set them manually if they wish. I find that I do this manual operation more frequently on my Royals that only have the Magic Margin on the left hand side only, but I tend to use the Magic Margin levers more frequently on the models that have them on both the right and the left.
I like Smith Corona's, can't say much about Royals except they appear to have made a lot of them!
So are you a PICA girl or ELITE?
I have two Smith Corona silent 4 series. One in PICA and the other in ELITE. I find myself using the ELITE more but I have started using the PICA machine for addressing envelops.
Fascinating detail. Thanks so much for this comparison!
It's interesting to consider what features a typewriter may or may not have.
You can have your Smith Coronas. I'm a Royal guy. ;-)
Mozart and Bach in the background, very good narration, and in my opinion and experience, i'd prefer the Smith-Corona, they feel mor solid, the QDL feels more like a toy.But they are beautiful too.
Nice background music. Great video!
Where does the Arrow fall in the line?
Great information and comparison 👍
hi---I was surprised to see you don't touch type----guess it shows that that's not a problem
I am a hunt and peck typewriter user through and through
And you're fast!
Oh you answered that later in the video 😂
Can we please go back to weekly videos ☺️!!!! ... Also, you should start rating viewers' collections🤯
Hi there! I made a post a few weeks ago that I'll now be on a bi-weekly schedule. I work full time, and to ensure the quality remains the same on the content, I have to release them a bit slower! I apologize for the inconvenience- and I really like your idea!
More education. Thanks!