The Selectra-Print

written by Matthew Reed

Selectra-Print advertisement from the April 1979 issue of TRS-80 Monthly Newsletter

The Selectra-Print (originally known as the Selec-Term) was a device that connected a TRS-80 Model I to an IBM Selectric electric typewriter. It was sold by Micro Computer Devices Inc. of Anaheim, California. The TRS-80 version of the Selectra-Print cost $1,925.00¹ and included a modified Selectric II as part of the package.

The Selectric was an electric typewriter that used a “typeball” (which was removable and changeable) instead of individual typebars. IBM introduced the original Selectric (later known as the Selectric I) in 1961 and an improved version, the Selectric II, in 1971. The Selectric produced excellent output and eventually gained 75% of the United States electric typewriter market.

The Selectric was very common in offices and many small businesses with a Model I would have needed a Selectric for office work. As it says in a Selectra-Print advertisement:

Selectra-Print gives you letter-quality hard copy for your system plus the versatility and efficiency of IBM’s world-famous Selectric II. At a fraction of the price you would expect to pay for a conventional printer alone.

Using a Selectric and an interface such as the Selectra-Print would have been one of the few ways at the time to produce “camera ready” output suitable for professional reproduction. For example, early issues of both the TRS-80 Monthly Newsletter and 80-US Journal were generated using the Selectra-Print.

Selectric output example from the TRS-80 Monthly Newsletter

Although Micro Computer Devices modified the Selectric II to work with the Selectra-Print, it could still be used as a typewriter “at the touch of a switch” and had a full IBM warranty.

Other Options

The Selecta-Print was far from the only option for interfacing an IBM Selectric to a TRS-80. There were many competing products, most of which cost far less, but didn’t include a Selectric.

Another type of Selectric interface attached to the outside of the typewriter and physically pressed the keys. Two notable examples included:

The KGS-80 Keyboard Actuator by Kogyosha Company of Tenafly, New Jersey, which cost $599.00. It was later sold as Personal Typing Fingers by Personal Micro Computers.
The Dynatyper Keyboard Actuator by Rochester Data, Inc. of Rochester, New York. It cost $499.00 and could print eight characters a second reliably.

A review in the December 1981 issue of 80 Microcomputing described how the Dynatyper was installed:

Two supports are mounted on the outside of your typewriter. You remove the cover of the Dynatyper and manipulate four nylon screws to adjust the height of the unit over the keys. When each plunger activates its key near the bottom of the stroke, you replace the cover and hook up the cables.

There were also several DIY options:

Volume 6 of Encyclopedia for the TRS-80 described a $50.00 Selectric hardware interface.
The September 1980 issue of 80 Microcomputing contained an article titled “Selectric Hard Copy” by Michael W. Bickerson.

The fact that the Selectra-Print was universally described as “low-cost” gives you an idea of printer prices at the time. The TRS-80 version cost $75.00 more than the generic version for all computer systems. The extra cost was due to the complexity of handling the uppercase-only character set of the Model I. ↩︎

Categories: Hardware