RPN

[Russ_]

the current 35s does not have the EEX key that she needs.

Just looked at mine, and it doesn't have EEX. Never noticed as not a key I use.

I definitely prefer the portrait layout to the landscape.

I still have my old 15C, but it's quite worn. I also found that I have a couple of old 33S's in my drawer too!

 

[Walter Rowe]

Got this my last year of college in 1988. Still in pristine condition. Still ticking. Doesn't get much use these days, but its a great tool when you need it.

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[ac12]

Just looked at mine, and it doesn't have EEX. Never noticed as not a key I use.

I definitely prefer the portrait layout to the landscape.

I still have my old 15C, but it's quite worn. I also found that I have a couple of old 33S's in my drawer too!

Since I primarily use my old 22, I never noticed the EEX key either.
Then again, I don't do that kind of math anyway.

I "think" I figured out one reason why I like the 22. I can use it with one hand, which I can't do with the 12C.

 

[Growltiger]

I admit to having several HPs. The little Voyager series ones are lovely and the batteries can last for decades without needing to be changed. They are all programmable. The three best ones in the Voyager series are:

1. The famous HP 12C, for financial calculations. It is famous because it continues almost unchanged since 1981 and is sometimes mentioned by name in legal contracts, to avoid potential arguments about the calculations relating to loans, bonds and other financial instruments. A genuine 12C is essential for many people. (I have four of them, two original ones and two 12C Platinum, which also has algebraic mode and an undo button.)
2. The HP 15C, the most advanced scientific calculator in the range (the 10C and 11C are cut-down versions of the 15C).
3. The HP 16C, which is my favourite, this is the computer science calculator. You can set the word size, and other details, and then do many logical and arithmetic operations while working in decimal, binary, octal or hexadecimal. HP never made another calculator for programmers, it was made in 1982 and available until 1989. The 16C is quite rare. Here is a photo - note the keys A to F for entering hex:
   

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I also have the "HP 19BII Business Consultant", which is a weird design that opens like a book with a hinge in the middle, and an alphabetic keyboard on the left. It has the clever SOLVE feature. It does RPN or algebraic. I have never liked this calculator much.

If you have not yet come across Free42, this is an excellent free emulator of the HP 42S, available for PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, Linux. I have it on my PC and my phone. You can trust this program to give correct results, unlike some emulators. https://thomasokken.com/free42/

I dislike Facebook and don't use it myself but I recommend that you all take a look at the "HP Calculator Fan Club" group. It is amazing. There are collectors there with hundreds of HP calculators. Lots of information on restoring and repairing them, programming them etc. They also cover the beautiful new Swiss Micros calculators - these are new versions of HP calculators, including computer interface so programs can be transferred. https://www.swissmicros.com/products

 

[Geof]

I'm dating myself....it was my third year in Engineering school when one of our classmates got an HP-35. No more slide rule polar to rectangular (and vice versa) conversions. It sped up the homework immensely...thankfully Ed had no problem passing it around for all to use...

Now, I have 3 HP-15C's, but don't use them much anymore (woulda "killed for that" in college). I have an HP45 app on the iPhone and never use the Apple calculator, except on the Mac but it's set for RPN.

 

[ac12]

What is funny is I can use a standard desk 10-key calculator with algebraic input.
But when I use a handheld calculator, my brain switches to RPN, and I have trouble with the algebraic handhelds.

I need to look for the RPN calculator apps you guys mentioned, for my phone.

My HP-22 is in need of battery work. I replaced the original battery, but the replacement NiCd batteries, don't last anything like the original did. But at least they are replacable.

I have the newer 12c, but for some strange reason, I prefer the old 22.
I just wish the 22 had comas in the display.

Just had to replace the NiCd batteries of my HP-22.
The NiCd would not take much of a charge (might be my 2nd set of replacement batteries).
Luckily it was very easy to open the battery pack, and it takes standard AA NiCd batteries.

 

[Growltiger]

Just had to replace the NiCd batteries of my HP-22.
The NiCd would not take much of a charge (might be my 2nd set of replacement batteries).
Luckily it was very easy to open the battery pack, and it takes standard AA NiCd batteries.

Couldn't you put in modern NiMH such as Eneloop? I have a 1970's TI56 which had two NiCd AA cells and has had Eneloops in it for a year or so.

 

[mike3996]

I don't have any physical calculators anymore but RPN lives on when I do calculations with GNU Emacs. Its included "calc" package does operations in RPN by default. Secondly Emacs is largely written in a lisp, and lisp languages do arithmetic and syntax in general, not in RPN, but in PN. I am bit of a lisp aficionado.

 

[jbird]

My first was an HP25c. The c had a memory feature that was not emptied when the calculator turned off. The only reason I got rid of it was the battery park failed and I could not get a replacement. I have had 2 since then. My current calculator is self isolating at the office. I will be glad to have it back when the office reopens.

I do have an RPN calculator on my phone but it is not the same. I miss the tactile feel of the buttons.

 

[drr1531]

Are calculators still sold? I used an HP maybe 41? with card reader and thermal printer back in the day. Wrote some fairly complex routines with it. When they put a pc on my desk and I started using lotus the calculator started collecting dust. Can't say that rpn holds any sense of nostalgia for me.

 

[7006]

Are calculators still sold? I used an HP maybe 41? with card reader and thermal printer back in the day. Wrote some fairly complex routines with it. When they put a pc on my desk and I started using lotus the calculator started collecting dust. Can't say that rpn holds any sense of nostalgia for me.

If not a rhetorical question:
https://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/gateway/calculators/index.html

 

[drr1531]

If not a rhetorical question:
https://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/gateway/calculators/index.html

No it wasn't rhetorical. Honestly I'm amazed. Apparently lots of nostalgic types out there ?

 

[7006]

No it wasn't rhetorical. Honestly I'm amazed. Apparently lots of nostalgic types out there ?

Some exams for diplomas and professional certifications only allow calculators not laptops.
I am sure there are other examples (albeit niche) of situations where a calculator is the only option.

 

[drr1531]

Some exams for diplomas and professional certifications only allow calculators not laptops.
I am sure there are other examples (albeit niche) of situations where a calculator is the only option.

Good point. Back in my day we weren't allowed to use programmable calculators to take the engineering licensing tests. Which at the time I thought it rather odd that engineers weren't allowed to demonstrate knowledge of tools of the trade.

 

[pixel_a_ted]

If not a rhetorical question:
https://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/gateway/calculators/index.html

I followed this link and clicked on Scientific Calculators but there were "Zero Items."

 

[Growltiger]

I followed this link and clicked on Scientific Calculators but there were "Zero Items."

HP have pretty much given up on calculators, sadly.

The HP12C will live on forever in some form. There are even legal contracts relating to financial calculations that stipulate that the 12C must be used for the calculations. And no, you couldn't trust an emulator to give the same result.

 

[7006]

I followed this link and clicked on Scientific Calculators but there were "Zero Items."

There are some in the channel I believe but not direct from HP.
But you are right it is a category that is not heavily invested in.

 

[480sparky]

I have two HP-48s and won't give 'em up for love nor money.

 

[jbird]

Good point. Back in my day we weren't allowed to use programmable calculators to take the engineering licensing tests. Which at the time I thought it rather odd that engineers weren't allowed to demonstrate knowledge of tools of the trade.

Not really. I have seen in the EPC industry where we have software jockeys. People who know how to use a piece of software but cannot tell whether the answer is right or not. It is all too important for people to have a strong knowledge of the fundamentals. Only then will they be able to evaluate the output from a program. As an example, I just this week reviewed a Power BI dashboard that looked very slick with all of the graphs. But when I examined the numbers on the tabular screen which were the basis for the graphs, I saw within 5 minutes the calculations were wrong. The Power Bi dashboard was developed by a supposedly subject matter expert. But I am a crusty old fart who expects people to have technical competency when they assume certain roles.

 

[Pa]

I may be older than most folks here. When I was in graduate school, the Nuclear Engineering Dept. at N.C. State owned one electronic calculator. It was about the size of a cash register. We grad students had to stand in line to process the data from our lab experiments.

When I started on my first job at Babcock & Wilcox in 1973, I was issued an HP 35. It was almost unbelievable to have my own electronic calculator, and it would fit in my pocket!

I still have, and occasionally use, an HP 32S II. It was probably purchased in the 1980s*. Amazon still shows a few of these available for $125 up.

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* Wikipedia says the 32S II was introduced in 1991, so perhaps mine is not quite that old.