23 years and counting: H-P's calculator, a relic by today's standards, is still selling strong

Austin American Statesman ^ | January 19, 2004 | Bob Keefe

[Professional Engineer]

You have geeks coming out of the woodwork here. LOL

[Jack Black]

http://hpshopping.speedera.net/www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/images/products/f2232a_400.jpg

[SteveH]

I have a HP-16C which does hexadecimal. I never saw anything to replace it, but then, I never needed a replacement.

I also have an earlier HP-25 model which I once programmed for base conversions.

[Professional Engineer]

the 48 will do the base conversions. It will also allow numbers to be input in other bases. Math functions work on whatever the current base is set to.

Made life so much easier in college.

[Starrgaizr]

I recently crushed 12-C number three and went into a panick when an Office Depot clerk told me they had been discontinued. Fortunately, Office Max hadn't heard the news. ;)

[Romulus]

Bought my first HP12c in January, 1982 while working on my MBA, for access to financial functions beyond the reach of my Texas Instruments calculator. What a great device. And the RPN - not only is it more functional, it enhances my prestige by intmidating my boss. You can't put a price tag on that.

[Eastbound]

True. I haven't found anything else that compares with my HP 27S either. The solver equations in the manuals (got 'em all) is well worth the price of the calculator.

[skinkinthegrass]

Reverse Polish Notation -- the greatest.

I agree...can't use TI (uses A.O.S. - alg. op. sys.) H-P s' are the Best...to bad they aren't as widespread today...cheaper, less capable calculators Dominate the market. I've got a H-P 49G (and 48GX).

[AppyPappy]

Dang. Looks like my old Rockwell.

Staring at my Palm Vx and wondering why people still use calculators.

[chilepepper]

Me too... one of the solar credit card sized ones, that ONLY works if there is sunlight or strong interior lighting. Uses some pressure sensitive pads for the keys and is more or less indestructible.

I also have a TI Programmer whose battery failed a long time ago but included the connector for a regular 9v battery. Have been using it this way for about 18 years to do HEX & occasionally OCTAL (as well as just a regular 4 function calculator of course). Absolutely amazing these early calculators.

When I went to japan 10 years ago I saw an 8 pack of...

toilet paper

with a simple taiwanese four function calculator included in the package as a bonus (!!!)

[Fierce Allegiance]

My 48g is no slower than i can input!

Funny, but i find that similar to people who can't type complaining their computer is too slow. Then again, that is only using the basic functions. I forgot long ago how to do the heavy math, as i don't need it for my work.

[RansomOttawa]

I have a TI-35 puchased when I was in Navy tech school in 1984. Still the most reliable, feature-rich, easy to use non-programmable calculator I've ever owned.

Ditto. I have had a TI-35 since elementary school; first the battery-operated version, and then when I lost that about a year later, the solar-powered version, which is still going strong to this day, though I tend to rely more on the calculator function in my Pilot these days (despite being annoyed that its firmware doesn't have the scientific functions of its predecessor).

[Blood of Tyrants]

You are confusing imaginary and fantasy.

[NativeNewYorker]

I've never replaced the 12C I bought in the early 80s. I have, otoh, bought a couple during the spans when I thought I'd lost it.

[bray]

Have my 12C from around the same time. Best investment I ever made. Takes up very little space and works like a charm.

Pray for W and Our Brave Troops

[r9etb]

Reverse Polish Notation -- the greatest.

Gotta agree.

I still use my HP-41CX, which I went out and bought immediately after using a "regular" calculator to crunch numbers from a wind tunnel lab. It cost $300 in 1983, and I've never once regretted the expense.

[zeugma]

There are quite a few out there, last I looked. Under linux, for example, just do "xcalc -rpn"

Excellent tip! I was talking with a co-worker just this past friday about RPN calculators and did a few searches looking for a good clone of the hp-12c. Xcalc aint pretty, but it's already there, and it works!

It is an amazing testament to the folks who engineered the 12c that the thing is still being sold, virtually unchanged after all these years. Of course, it was developed back when Hewlett and Packard were still there, and the company was run mostly my engineers. I've got an old "test and measurement" catalog from HP that has some amazing things in it. I always wanted an atomic clock of my very own.

An interesting sidebar about that atomic clock ($16,000)... In the notes on the page, it said it must be shipped overland to ensure accuracy of the clock as it was set at the factory, and the difference in the distance from the gravitational center of the earth experienced on an airplane would cause it to drift from "true" time by a measureable (though miniscule) amount during the flight.

[Cboldt]

10C, 11C, 15C, 12C, 16C
Can't remember what all the different models were.

IIRC, 10, 11 & 15 are engineering; 12 is financial; and 16 is boolean/hex/computer programmer.

[Cboldt]

I've got an old "test and measurement" catalog from HP that has some amazing things in it.

Old Leeds & Northrup catalogs are pretty cool, too.

[Cuttnhorse]

Wasn't the first HP introduced in about 1974 or '75? Seems I recall a mining engineer student with a HP 30 (?) that had the whole engineering and science departments in an up-roar. I recall them being forbiden during exams. I do remember not being able to afford one.