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Which division gets the calculators? I learned about the HP-12C today, which appears to be the TI-83 of finance: "The HP-12C is HP's longest and best-selling p

by nandhp 12y ago

Which division gets the calculators? I learned about the HP-12C today, which appears to be the TI-83 of finance: "The HP-12C is HP's longest and best-selling product, in continual production since its introduction in 1981" ... "In 2008, HP modified the design so that new production runs contain an ARM processor which runs an emulated version of previous chips." http://www.hp.com/calculators/ http://www.hp.com/calculators/ http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PDPStdView?catalogId=10051&productId=501424&storeId=10151 http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PDPStdView?cat... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-12C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-12C

sudowhodoido 12y ago
Horrible calculators despite a major following. I wouldn't buy too much into the HP calculator love. I myself was a follower and had an HP 50G (Nice 205MHz ARM RPL machine, successor of the HP48 series). Was totally unusable without the manual which was in PDF format only so I'd have to sit at the computer anyway. I couldn't print it out because the three volumes were ~2000 pages. Plus the thing was so damn obtuse and totally non discoverable. Then they released the Prime which is a buggy turd of a calculator wrapped in a very polished case. Ended up with an old TI89 I paid £25 for on ebay that came with the manual which isn't a million pages long.
- Thrymr 12y ago
  Agreed regarding the graphing RPL models, but the scientific RPN calculators are pretty solid. The 12C financial calculator is more like those. The scientific equivalent, the 15C, is no longer in production, but the current 35S isn't bad for cranking out calculations. The tactile feedback sure beats hitting a touch screen phone.
  - sudowhodoido 12y ago
    The 35S is buggy as hell, poorly designed, the battery lasts too little time and the keys break easily. I owned one and regretted the purchase (I went through an "own every calculator phase") This is the best thing on the market at the moment in the same form factor: http://www.edu.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionaries/Fraction_%26_Scientific/FX-115ESPLUS/ http://www.edu.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionari... If you want programmable then there's (but you have to import it): http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/calc/scientific/programmable/fx5800p/?m_no=164 http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/calc/scientific/progra... TI89 for me though.
    - vram22 12y ago
      >I went through an "own every calculator phase" That could be an interesting HN or blog post if you wanted to do it. I'm a bit of a calculator fan myself, though I haven't used many different models. There's something about physical products, even though virtual ones are more flexible / configurable, being software.
krupan 12y ago
When I left HP around 6 years ago there were maybe 3 HP employees left working on calculators, no joke. They were doing their best to keep the dream alive, but they just didn't have a lot of backing or resources.
- yitchelle 12y ago
  They would be mostly managers handling outsourcing contracts...
  - krupan 12y ago
    Yes
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
I prefer my HP41 to anything they've made recently. The buttons are too hard to press on the new ones.

by nandhp 12y ago

sudowhodoido 12y ago

Horrible calculators despite a major following. I wouldn't buy too much into the HP calculator love. I myself was a follower and had an HP 50G (Nice 205MHz ARM RPL machine, successor of the HP48 series). Was totally unusable without the manual which was in PDF format only so I'd have to sit at the computer anyway. I couldn't print it out because the three volumes were ~2000 pages. Plus the thing was so damn obtuse and totally non discoverable. Then they released the Prime which is a buggy turd of a calculator wrapped in a very polished case. Ended up with an old TI89 I paid £25 for on ebay that came with the manual which isn't a million pages long.

Thrymr 12y ago
Agreed regarding the graphing RPL models, but the scientific RPN calculators are pretty solid. The 12C financial calculator is more like those. The scientific equivalent, the 15C, is no longer in production, but the current 35S isn't bad for cranking out calculations. The tactile feedback sure beats hitting a touch screen phone.
- sudowhodoido 12y ago
  The 35S is buggy as hell, poorly designed, the battery lasts too little time and the keys break easily. I owned one and regretted the purchase (I went through an "own every calculator phase") This is the best thing on the market at the moment in the same form factor: http://www.edu.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionaries/Fraction_%26_Scientific/FX-115ESPLUS/ http://www.edu.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionari... If you want programmable then there's (but you have to import it): http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/calc/scientific/programmable/fx5800p/?m_no=164 http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/calc/scientific/progra... TI89 for me though.
  - vram22 12y ago
    >I went through an "own every calculator phase" That could be an interesting HN or blog post if you wanted to do it. I'm a bit of a calculator fan myself, though I haven't used many different models. There's something about physical products, even though virtual ones are more flexible / configurable, being software.

krupan 12y ago

When I left HP around 6 years ago there were maybe 3 HP employees left working on calculators, no joke. They were doing their best to keep the dream alive, but they just didn't have a lot of backing or resources.

yitchelle 12y ago
They would be mostly managers handling outsourcing contracts...
- krupan 12y ago
  Yes

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

I prefer my HP41 to anything they've made recently. The buttons are too hard to press on the new ones.