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Is it worth keeping an Olivetti ETV 250 typewriter with CRT monitor?

G

gonk23

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A relative of mine has an Olivetti ETV 250 typewriter with CRT monitor stored away not being used. I believe it's Z80+CPM based, but setup for word processing only.

The only interesting websites I've found regarding this is the following regarding restoring an ETV 240 (which I believe it's the same as the ETV 250 but without floppy drive(s)) :
http://techgoregalore.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/olivetti-etv-240-typewriter-demo_19.html

Is it worth keeping?
 
hello,
well, I would say yess! Not only because I am an Olivetti fan, but as the link you postes says, it's one of the rare linkings between typewriters and computers.. I have seen one of these typewriters working, it's amazing how the mechanical system acts to produce a sheet that is very similar to the one you can get with some older word processors..
 
A wonderful thing and definitely worth keeping and restoring. I see the article says "cheaper than a computer" but I bet they were very expensive, and really for the technophobe who was comfortable with what looked like a typewriter, even if it wasn't...
 
Thanks for your replies everyone.

ChrisCwmbran said:
It's not the sort of thing I would like to send for recycling however I guess the real question is do you have the space to keep it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the problem. We eventually want to clear the space, although I guess there's no rush. Although it's an interesting bit of gear, it doesn't have any nostalgic value for the owner or I.

If there's anyone in the Hobart (Tasmania) area that might be interested in it, I can probably arrange to give it to you next time I'm down that way. It's probably too heavy/awkward to ship anywhere.
 
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g4ugm said:
I see the article says "cheaper than a computer" but I bet they were very expensive, and really for the technophobe who was comfortable with what looked like a typewriter, even if it wasn't...
Click to expand...

I think this unit was originally being used in the public service probably by a typist or secretary. It probably made sense for the era (mid to late eighties).
 
Hello, as a former Olivetti Germany technician in the 2nd half of the 1980's and computer design interested person I would definitively say: YES

The ETV-250 is a CP/M based computer with integrated typewriter. It's one of the ETV-series which I will list as follows:

ETV 240, same as ETV 250 but only single floppy drive

ETV 250, integrated CP/M and daisywheel tyewriter in one chassis, with 80x25 green on black CRT monitor. It has not only one Z80-CPU, but some more, one for the CP/M computer, one for the keyboard, one or two for the printer. The printer uses the same mechanics as ET-111, ET-112, ET-115, ET-116 profesional daisywheel typewriters. CP/M operation system and Olitext wordprocessing software is booted form 3,5 inch drive. There were als diskettes with CP/M to boot on command prompt, conatining BASIC programming language, games, visicalc, databases and many more

ETV 300, external box in the size of a desktop PC (about the same size as for example Olivetti M24, Atari PC3, etc.), Z80 CPU, 1 or 2 5,25 floppy drives (same Apls mechanics as Commodore VC 1541, Apple IIc and some Apple II external drives), extension slots. Green on black monitor (similar looking to the monochrome monitors for Olivetti M24) The ETV 300 was connected through serial interface to a Olivetti daisywheel typewriter of the ET-221, ET-225 series. The typeweiter served to the ETV-300 as printer and keyboard. ETV-300 was running under CP/M, Olitext and there were boot diskettes with BASIC, games, visicalc, databases, etc. ETV 300 was also capable to read diskettes from DU-251 floppy drive (external floppy drive for ET-225 typewriter) and import text documents into Olitext.

ETV 350 was shrinked version of ETV 300, fully compatible with ETV-240/250 as it also was using 3,5 inch floppys. The ETV 350 was connected to ET-111, ET-112, ET-115, ET-116 through serial interface and extended them from a typewriter to a screen based word processor.

ETV 260 was fully integrated using the daisywheel printer of ET-111, ET-112, ET-115, ET-116. In the chassis, under the printing mechanics, a full version of Olivetti M-19 personal computer was integrated, 8088 CPU at 4,77 MHz, up to 640 kB RAM, two 3,5 ich floppy drives with 720 kB or one floppy and one 20 MB harddisk (AT-Bus or SCSI, I don't remember anymore). ETV-260 was running MS-DOS version 3.20 and came with MS-DOS version of Olitext which was much more advanced to the older CP/M versions. Keybard was external and same like M19. Monitor was green on black. Introduced in 1986/87. There were also rebranded ETV 260 from Telenorma (Germany) on the market.

ETV 2700 was modern version of ETV-260, based on ET-2xxx typewriter mechanics, NEC-V40 CPU and 256 up to 1 MB RAM, also running MS-DOS and newer version of Olitext. Monitor was back letters on white backround (similar to Atari SM-124 monitor). It had two 3,5 inch floppy drives or one floppy and one harddisk. Introduced in 1989.

ETV 2900 was MS-DOS-PC integrated into a monitor similar to ETV 2700 and fully compatible to ETV 2700. The ETV 2900 was connected through serial interface to ET-2xxx series typewriters and could extend them to a full word processor and MS-DOS compatibe PC.

ETV 240/250/260/2700/2900 all came with an arm which could be fixed by screws to the desktop (table) and carried the monitor. So it was very easy to place the monitor over of the ETV creating a very ergonomic workplace. ETV 240 up to ETV-350 CP/M based machines were designed by Mario Bellini and his team, so they had very nice design. Probably ETV-260 also was designed by Bellini, but for ETV-2xxx I don't know.

The ETV series of wordprocessor systems was the high end series of typewriters at it's time. The ETV 260 and 2700 were one of the fastest daisywheel printers on the market. With some fun software we even could print graphics onto it, just using the dot "." like a one dot matrix printer... ;)

(Currently I am trying to get a ETV-2700.)
 
Hello, I forgot and I didn't even knew until today, there was one more of these ETV systems:

ETV 4000S - it looks pretty much the same as ETV 2700, but it was made in 1991 and it came with mouse, handscanner, color monitor and some graphical user interface! This should be the acme of typewriters! See here: http://www.provincia.bz.it/catalogo-beniculturali/it/ricerca.asp?kks_priref=150005305 Unfortunately the spec page is too small to read.
 
There is one more from Olivetti which is looking very similar, the CWP-1, I think it also was intriduced in 1989 and was using the same monitor as ETV-2700. I saw it some times when I still was at Olivetti, but I don't know exactly what's in there. The thing I know is that it is not MS-DOS or CP/M based, but it has a variant of Olitext in ROM and it uses Floppy drive as storage. The interesting thing on that video-typewriter was the integrated printer, instead of the ETV systems it did not used a daisywheel printer, but a kind of thermo transfer printer, this was fascinating because beside writing letters to the paper in almost daisywheel quality it also was able to lift off / delete / correct already printed letters. The ETV systems were targeted for high end secretary office user and the CWP-1 was concepted for home users which were afraid to use a PC.

The successor of CWP-1 must be the Olivetti "Top 100", "Jetwriter 900" and things like that, mid size portable typewriters with a large LCD and floppy in the rear side. but when I look closer to their design I know that they are only relabled Triumph Adler machines.

Some links:

ETV 300 -> http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I009/10233696.aspx
ETV 350 -> nothing online, it already was rare in the 1980's
ETV 240 / 250 -> http://www.storiaolivetti.it/fotogallery.asp?idPercorso=610&idOrd=21
ETV 260 -> system: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/X1232.96 monitor: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102647898 keyboard: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102647897
ETV 2700 -> http://www.provincia.bz.it/catalogo-beniculturali/it/ricerca.asp?kks_priref=150005284
ETV 2900 -> (no photo outside ebay found)
ETV 4000s -> http://www.provinz.bz.it/katalog-kulturgueter/de/suche.asp?kks_priref=150005305
CWP-1 -> https://ub.fnwi.uva.nl/computermuseum/OlivettiCWP.php
 
Surprisingly I foudn again another ETV system... While I was looking through my collection of Olivetti service manuals, I found the follwoing service manuals:
1. ETV 250
2. ETV 260
3. ETV 500

The new one to this list is the ETV 500. I totally forgot this and it is a rare machine under this name... But it is well known under another name, but slighly different. The ETV 500 is an external box with green monitor which could be connected to ET 112 and ET 116 through optional serial interface. The ETV 500 is fully software compatible to ETV 260 as it is using the same base electronics as that one. The ETV 500 is nothing else than a relabled M19 personal computer, the difference to the M19 is that beside PC keyboard it is also possible to type on the typewriter keyboard as well. Unfortunatelly there is no photo of ETV 500 in the internet available.

By the way, this is my ETV 2700.
PICT0051.jpg
 
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I had an ETV-260 for a while and offered it up for free. It was simply too bulky for my personal collection, but it was a very nice machine (and the printer was fantastic on it). Unfortunately it ended up at the side of the road when I didn't get any takers. If we hadn't been moving houses I might have hung onto it.
 
Yes, I have read your posting about the 260 and was very sad. Don't tell me now that it even was one with internal harddisk. I will cry!

By the way, yesterday evening I totally dismanteled my 2700 and cleaned it and extended the ram from 256 kb to 640/768, and checked if it is possible to attach a harddisk, but onboard it has no controller for that. looks like an option board in a special slot at the rear side is required for this.
 
1ST1 said:
Yes, I have read your posting about the 260 and was very sad. Don't tell me now that it even was one with internal harddisk. I will cry!

By the way, yesterday evening I totally dismanteled my 2700 and cleaned it and extended the ram from 256 kb to 640/768, and checked if it is possible to attach a harddisk, but onboard it has no controller for that. looks like an option board in a special slot at the rear side is required for this.
Click to expand...

Wellll....

actually it was... internal Rodime 20MB SCSI hard disk.
 
A "typewriter with a CRT monitor" would be better known as a "word processor". Back when companies like IBM and Olivetti had separate typewriter and computer divisions, these were a way for the typewriter division to get a leg into the computer market without going outside their corporate bounds -- and the same was true for the companies and organizations buying them. In fact, a word processor like this was often more expensive than a comparable PC & printer setup. IBM even had plain typewriters (not word processors) that cost more than the 5150 PC did!

Brother had some word processors on the market until the late '90s. By then they had an inkjet printer mechanism and rudimentary desktop publishing capability, and a serial port and optional modem so you could "go online" (text-only).
 
Seems like probably the biggest use for the ETV-260 apart from the obvious word processing was the cool pop-up typewriter mode. This would allow anyone to fill in forms, and since it was an impact printer could do so with carbon forms. I imagine that is what the one I had was used most for (it had a government asset sticker on it when it was purchased by my dad).
 
geoffm3 said:
Wellll....

actually it was... internal Rodime 20MB SCSI hard disk.
Click to expand...

Loudly-cry-smiley-thumb2528261.jpg
 
Update: I just discovered again another ETV series system, and as I saw a photo in eBay I also remeber to have seen it one time.

ETV 210s, it came at the same time as ETV 2700 using almost the same chassis. But everything else is totally different, it is not having a CRT monitor but a two lines 80/90 characters LCD integrated into the keyboard. It has thermo transfer printer like CWP-1, no or one floppy drive and it writes it's files in the same file format as ETV 240/250/350. The ETV family is bigger than I remeber. I came onto it while browsing through the ETV 2700 user manual, there it was mentioned as ETV 2700 SWP wordprocessor application can import it's files.

Meanwhile my ETV 2700 is fully restored and cleaned and its allmost like new. I found one more problem of it, one key of the keyboard was not working, I fixed by using silver lacquer to fix a broken line in the keyboard foil.

Funny to play Sokoban on a typewriter...
 
1ST1 said:
Hello, as a former Olivetti Germany technician in the 2nd half of the 1980's and computer design interested person I would definitively say: YES
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks for all the info 1ST1! I feel all this info should be put somewhere, like wikipedia.

I suspect those service manuals you mentioned would be interesting/useful for some people. I don't know what the copyright status of them is, but having a scanned copy on archive.org would be great.
 
The ETV 250 is here now and it's fully working, only the keyboard needs an inside cleanup as some keys are only working if hammering on them. Regarding CP/M I will start another discussion later on in that subforum.
 
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