The Canon Typestar 220 is a 1992 ‘portable electronic typewriter’. It also is a ’thermal typewriter’, more on that in a moment, and it is a much appreciated ‘upgrade’ to the other electronic thermal typewriter I was using before that, the Canon Typestar 10-II from 1994 — which incidentally demonstrates that even back in those pre-Digital Dark Ages ’newer’ did not always mean ‘better’.
It’s an even much more impressive upgrade when considering my usual drafting companions: a fountain pen, but that is a whole other story. I’m here to talk about that typewriter, not fountain pen.
Like I just said, it is a thermal typewriter which means that although it can use ink cassettes to print on standard paper it can also work fine without any ink at all provided you use thermal paper, not standard paper. And that is exactly how I am using it.
- Unlike the compatible ink cassettes — decades-old and out of production they are now so hard to find that they are priced as if they were made out of the purest unobtainium ore — thermal paper can still easily be purchased at a reasonable price (not sure for how many more years, though). I use standard fax 53gsm thermal paper that is A4 in width and comes in a… 30 meters rolls. I find it on Amazon, in packs of one or six. Note that one could also use the standard cash-register roll of paper — it’s a rather narrow writing surface but it could be an interesting experience too.
- Thermal printing is quiet. It is not fountain-pen-quiet but compared to any mechanical typewriter out there, it’s silent. Using one of these thermal printers, I can type late at night, or very early in the morning, while my spouse is still sleeping in the room next door.
Even though it is not MacBook Air light, the machine being fill plastic is still portable, heck even most of its cogs and wheels are made out of plastic. It has a little carrying handle, and a cover (to protect the machine when carrying it). It can be used on batteries (four standard D-type cells) when you can’t use its AC-Adapter (Canon AD-100). Even though many typewriter collectors would sneer at that machine, calling it a battery-powered plastic toy, it is still 100% a real (almost) fully featured typewriter. There is no Save button, what you type is printed on the paper or its gone. You need paper.
It is also cheap. Unlike traditional mechanical typewriters that many people have started to consider as trendy fashion accessories and collectibles, trying to sell rusty wrecks for stupid amount of money, those plastic machines are worth… not much. Sure, they’re not very common but they’re not rare either, and being that odd combination of very old electronics and a typewriter under a very unnoticeable plastic hood, most people see no value at all in them — and to be honest, they probably don’t hold much value. Save for oddballs like myself (I really enjoy writing on it).
How cheap? I got this one for less than 40€ including shipping and insurance. And that includes one barely used cassette + two new ones, the AC adapter and the user guide. Those cassettes alone are worth more than that. And the machine looks almost new to me, there was no need to clean it and no parts to replace.
Why did I switch from the newer Typestar 10-II to the older Typestar 220? The 220 has
- A much more audible end-of-line beep. What beep you may ask? If you have never used a traditional typewriter, you need to know that every time you’re getting close to the end of a line, within five characters from the right margin of your sheet of paper, the machine would ring a bell, a real physical bell I mean, kinda like the one on a bicycle. It would do that to let you know it was time to consider using that shiny carriage return arm and start, well, a new line of text on your page. The beep is the electronic equivalent of that bell for an electronic machine, a very useful feature one better be able to hear clearly. I’m getting old and, like my eyesight, my hearing is not what it used to be and I could barely hear the beep on the 10-II. Not so much with the 220. So, yeah, worth the upgrade.
- A much nicer and better keyboard. Like, really better. Think going from a decent membrane keyboard to a nice mechanical one, you get the idea: a worthy upgrade too. I’ve decided to keep the 10-II as a backup device but I can tell you I would not be happy to go back to its keyboard since I’ve been using the 220’s.
- The ability to print in bold, which helps in making the text more readable. Bold alone is another worthy upgrade, even more when using thermal paper: it makes the text a tad… bolder, even more readable.
- The ability to memorize up to 5 different page layouts. That was my main motivation as I will often switch from A4 to the narrower A5 paper. It works… save for the right margin. So, I can’t quickly switch from A4 to A5 and need to redefine the margin each time — no luck but at least this version will memorize a custom margin even when one powers off the machine (not the 220, which was a pain).
- A better buffer. Without getting into too much technicality, I would have a hard time explaining one can use those machines two ways: either like a traditional typewriter (you press a key and the corresponding letter is written on the paper) or through a buffer (which the machine will write after one reaches the end of the line or hits the Return or Tab keys). The thing is that thermal printers are the fastest to work so they need to buffer whatever it is you’re writing while it is still printing. If you’re a fast typist, you can fill that buffer which is something you don’t want to happen (it will bug, or the text will be lost) — something that has not yet happened to me using the 220 in place of the 10-II. So, yep, another worth upgrade as far as I’m concerned.
In summary, any impression I consider this machine a worthy upgrade would be a complete understatement. I like it a lot and it instantly replaced my poor 10-II.
BTW, there are other features coming with that machine I simply don’t care about. Things like a spellchecker (I have not tested it, no idea how well it works) and the ability to quickly recall text templates (short snippets of text), here again no idea how usable it is.
Any downsides?
- Using a roll and not the standard sheets of paper, I only have an endless scroll of text to account for my work. It has its charm but it can also be a pain if you’re used to working with standard sheets of paper. I could and sometimes do cut pages to size from that roll of paper but it takes time (I use one of those heavy-duty paper cutter, it’s working really well but it still takes time). The thing is that most of the time since I’m using it for drafting I don’t need to worry about pages, I just type.
- Being thermal paper, the prints have a poor reputation as far as their archival quality is concerned. The text is said to be fading away and, yep, depending on the quality of the thermal paper it can fade real quick (look at some not so old cash register receipt to see what I mean. So far I’ve had no issue with fax thermal paper and, once again, since I’m using that for drafting it’s not like I plan on keeping them forever.
- Like I already said that Startype 220 (like its 110 version, btw) was described as being able to memorize up to five different page layouts and it can… save the margin that matters the most to me, the right one. So frustrating ;)
- The settings are, well, let’s just say you’d better keep its user guide nearby at any time. If you need one there a few PDF available here. One day I will scan and upload my French edition for both the 220 and the 10-II.
What’s that cardboard thingy in the picture?
If you’re wondering what is that thing you can (barely) see below and under the typewriter, it’s a cheap DIY paper roll holder I devised so not only it holds the paper roll but I can easily move the machine around with the roll still attached. It also allows me to work anywhere, even on the couch ;)
Like often, I made it out of recycled cardboard (using the package the machine was sent to me in) that I cut and reassembled using hot glue. I added a brass rod I had lying around. It’s simple, quick, dirt cheap, and very satisfying, if not pretty to look at, and it works real well.
Let me know if you want more details to make your own.
More info on those thermal typewriters?
Among the few videos on YouTube I think this one by Joe Van Cleave is an excellent starting point: Thermal Typewriters. Joe has published more videos about those machines, and even more on typewriters in general, check his channel.
Published: 2024/08/06