[kennedy]

I bought my first HP12c in 1982 when I was in college. It is on my desk and I still use it daily. I have a half dozen others scattered around my office and my house. In an era when most electronics are obsolete in 6 months it never ceases to amaze me how the HP12c has never been replaced with anything better.

[tallhappy]

Yes.

Reverse Polish Notation -- the greatest.

[Always Right]

I was in engineering school, we had to have the HP 11c, which included imaginary number calculations.

[Az Joe]

My Texas Instruments BA-II Executive Business Analyst financial calculator (Circa 1985) is still going strong.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I cant use anything but my hp48g. Old and battered, works awesome!

[avg_freeper]

Their high end science-engineering calculators, on the other hand, get slower, more cumbersome to use, and bulkier with every release. RPN is really the only reason I bought an HP calculator.

[68skylark]

Great post -- my HP 12c has taken unbelievable abuse and it just keeps working better each year!

[jimt]

My TI-66 programmable was purchased in 1983 and has had the batteries replaced once. Every key still works, the display is perfect, and no Reverse Polish Notation !

[TheBigB]

My calculator is so old, it has an internal abacus.

Bada-bump. Thank you, try the fish. I'm here all week.

[Cboldt]

Wish they'd bring back the 15C. Great calculators, that series (10C, 11C, 15C, 12C, 16C).

[Trajan88]

In route to receiving my degree at Texas A&M, part of the core curriculum was a finace class (think it was FINC 304)... the prof. was one of those old school, bow-tie wearing fuddy-duddies that thought his dung didn't stink (sorta like John Houseman of "The Paper Chase" fame).

Anyway, his lectures were a waste of time because they were based on keystrokes using the H-P 12B (I believe that was the model - B for business). I was too cash-straped to have a H-P, I had already bought a Sharp.

I rarely went to class - it wasn't worth sitting through a lecture of H-P keystrokes that I would then have to convert. For the most part, I used tables and the basic functions of the Sharp calculator to get me through.

After the final exam we were asked to evaluate the prof. - my only statement was along the line of "how much of a $ kickback did H-P &/or the college bookstores provide you?"

Trajan88; TAMU Class of '88

[Grut]

... 1981, the same year IBM Corp. introduced the personal computer.

I know it's a quibble, but IBM didn't introduce 'the' personal computer, only its version of the personal computer. A little credit to IMSAI, Altair, Apple and even Radio Shack, please.

[bobsatwork]

Bought an HP 15C in the early 80's. Replace the batteries every three or four years - still works great. My FIRST HP was an HP15 circa 1972. It made me a celebrity in college.

[boris]

I have an original HP-35...so "original" that it lacks a "35" on the front. No batteries. If I'd kept the batts, manual, and box it would be worth a lot. Still works.

[Cyman]

My first calculator was a Bowmar Brain, used in the early to mid seventies. But I always carried my trusty slide rule " just in case"

[toast]

My college roomates had the HP. I never could get used to the reversed notation.

I have one of those solar Casio's. Bought it in '85. Still sitting right here on my desk.

[Professional Engineer]

I still use my HP48SX (14 years old) and 32C (10years old) daily. Workhorses.

[Xenalyte]

I still have my fully functional 12c from my first job, in my drawer here . . . what an age we live in!

[BigBobber]

Today, it retails for about $70.

This thing, like all HP calculators, is horribly overpriced. It should not be selling for more than $20. Any business major who buys one in this day and age should "do the math" and figure out they're being taken, big time.

[Henrietta]

There was another thread with this story a week or two ago. One can still buy an Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theater Monitor that has been around since the 70s (since the 50s in closely related models.)

[meadsjn]

his calculator was eaten by a hippo but still worked -- after a little cleaning -- when it came out the animal's other end a few days later

Don't try this with a Timex.