Now here’s something you don’t see everyday. This is an Apple silentype printer. Apple announced the silentype in 1979 but didn’t start producing it until March 1980. This printer is stamped “2281” on the inside. I can only assume it means the “22nd week of 1981”. Original price: a cool $600 bucks! I scored it for $60.

It’s not in mint condition. It definitely shows signs of use, but not bad at all for a 32 year old printer.




It still has a roll of thermal paper inside.



It still has the paper roll holders. That has to be a bonus. I can totally see those getting lost over the years.



They slide right into the ends of the paper roll.



That’s not a power cord. That a 9-pin serial cable. The silentype requires an interface card in order to connect it to an Apple II. Unfortunately, I don’t have a card. I’ll never be able to test this printer to see if it even works. Not that I’m too worried about it. I have no intention of using it; it’s just nice to know I have one.



It does have some discoloration on the front. I’ll have to add it to my list of things to retr0brite this summer.



The silentype is surprisingly small compared to the Apple Scribe.



That brings my printer count up to 4. Hum. I didn’t realize I was collecting printers. Another collection-within-a-collection I guess!