HP 32S II - worth buying?

[dct]

Can support the sayings.
It is my carry around everyday calculator since decades. Still using the first one; but I have one spare ready to take over.

For a few spontaneous calculation nowadays I use the WP34S emulation in my iPhone. But if I need to calculate for a while, I prefer using the 32SII.

(I use it even in parallel to an Excel sheet on PC screen, because IMHO arithmetic calculations are much faster typing to the 32SII then clicking around on an Excel sheet and painfully inserting arithmetic signs between the cells or values.)

You cannot go wrong with a 32SII.

[Andreas Grund]

The HP 32s II is my darling.... Although I started early with the HP 35. 25, 41, 28, only in the 90ies I got my first 32sII, cheap in a Hong Kong shopping mall. I still us it, scratched meanwhile, but for me the perfect calculator. I got a second one, MIB, as a spare and a 42, which is a perfect machine, but I rarely use..

So my advice, whenever you can get a 32sII at a reasonable price, BUY!, whether you need or not...

greetings

Andreas

[Les Bell]

I'm another who was quite dismissive of the 32SII; I've been happy with my pair of 41's and all their add-ons, and figured I would rather wait and see if I could pick up a 42 some time.

But then a nice 32SII almost fell into my lap, and I bought a new-in-shrink-wrap manual for it. It's a really nice machine, very easy for the RPN enthusiast to pick up and use without much reading of the manual. Mine usually lives in the drawer beside all my Voyagers, but when I need a slimline machine that can slip into the laptop bag, it does the job just nicely. It's quite a pretty machine, too. I'm glad I got mine.

[John Galt]

Ok you wore me down! I'm getting one ASAP.

[Katie Wasserman]

(12-07-2014 02:11 AM)John Galt Wrote:  Ok you wore me down! I'm getting one ASAP.

I love the 32sii too! Some people here will point out that its weak point is limited memory, but I like that aspect of the 32sii because it requires some extra creativity to write concise programs. They'll also point out the convoluted way it does complex arithmetic. While I generally agree with that criticism it turns out that some of the complex functions are actually a great way to save a program step or two at times when you're trying to something other than complex arithmetic.

Have fun with it!

[Paul Dale]

(12-07-2014 02:28 AM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  They'll also point out the convoluted way it does complex arithmetic.

The 34S followed this method of complex arithmetic, although it has a larger stack to compensate and a considerably wider range of complex functions.

I really like my 32Sii and have just grabbed it in preference to a 34S for some simple calculations.


- Pauli

[John Galt]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I found one and bought it, probably paid a few dollars too much but... I like it! Fast and simple, just what I was looking for. Very nice build quality, I can understand why it has such a following.

In a ironic twist, the disposable 12c I needed to replace, the one with the smashed 0 key? Well, it seems to have healed itself. The 0 key behaves normally again, just like all the others. I have no idea what caused this to occur, or how it managed to right itself, but if any calculator is capable of fixing itself it would obviously have to be an HP.

[rprosperi]

(12-17-2014 01:03 AM)John Galt Wrote:  I have no idea what caused this to occur, or how it managed to right itself, but if any calculator is capable of fixing itself it would obviously have to be an HP.

So, your 12C died just long enough for you to get a 32SII to keep the 12C company. God moves is strange ways sometimes... thankfully.

[John Galt]

Indeed. In fact in recent weeks I also acquired a WP-34s, a 30b for flashing myself, another 30b since they're too cheap to have only one, a replacement 35s for the one I broke, and a 50g because the 35s was no longer sufficient for my daughter's educational needs anyway.

They're doing more than keeping each other company... they're multiplying.

[rprosperi]

(12-17-2014 11:47 AM)John Galt Wrote:  They're doing more than keeping each other company... they're multiplying.

Yes, a dangerous side effect of this hobby. Now, you'll almost certainly need a 2nd 50g to be able to support your daughter, and... see what I mean.

[Allen]

There are many circumstances where the HP 32sii is much faster than the 42S if you are also interested in speed: keyboard entry, calculation, and program execution is faster in many circumstances.

For example, This program for Project Euler problem 370.

For large input, this is impractical on the HP41 series, but the 32S can get you one or two orders of magnitude further before it becomes impractical.

[John Galt]

As it turns out the 32SII I bought came with a case that doesn't seem quite right. It is 5.75" (14.7 cm) long, so the calculator fits but it sticks out a bit.

The bottom of the case also appears to have a very slight radius, leading me to believe it may be correct for a 10Bii (not a 10B which I think has dimensions identical to other Pioneers).

Can someone please confirm the correct long dimension of a 32SII case? I'm thinking about 6" ought to be about right.

(12-17-2014 02:34 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  So, your 12C died just long enough for you to get a 32SII to keep the 12C company. God moves is strange ways sometimes... thankfully.

On that subject I had still been looking for a replacement 12C and finally met with the seller. It was new in the box, opened but never used, manual, case etc. but he was asking only $30 so I sort of reluctantly bought it. Made in Brazil and better quality than the new 12C, so while I'm not really excited, it's OK.

While I was there he said he had a second 12C and do I want it. I told him I already have one too many, but he asked if $10 would be OK? Well, OK. It also had a case and I needed one of them anyway and a case is worth about that much to me.

As it turns out... I took the second calculator home and it's not a 12C. It's a 16C! I called him back and asked if he knew that, he said no and apologized for not knowing, but he doesn't want it back - never got used to RPN and didn't like it. Happy to be rid of it.

So... yes God works in strange ways indeed.

[rprosperi]

(01-09-2015 07:48 PM)John Galt Wrote:  Can someone please confirm the correct long dimension of a 32SII case? I'm thinking about 6" ought to be about right.

As it turns out... I took the second calculator home and it's not a 12C. It's a 16C!

So... yes God works in strange ways indeed.

The Pioneer case next to me is 5.75" tall, though they do vary as much as 1/4" or more from case to case. In some cases, the machine sticks out the top nearly 1/4", while for others the machine is fully inside the case.

The case you have definitely sounds like a 10BII / 17BII+ Gold case; I think these are the only ones with curved bottom, and they indeed are a bit shorter. The 30S/33S case may also be curved, but is much taller.

As for the bonus 16C for $10, well, what can one say - luck in the extreme. Could I have the seller's name and number? Just want to see if he has any more machines he doesn't like....

[Thomas Radtke]

The 32SII came with more than one type of cases. I have some made from plain Vinyl (e.g., indonesian 32SII, Singapore 20S) and some that incorpoprate some fabric (e.g., Singapore 32SII, indonesian 17BII). The latter fits perfectly while the vinyl-cases tend to shrink over the time.

[rprosperi]

(01-09-2015 09:57 PM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:  The 32SII came with more than one type of cases. I have some made from plain Vinyl (e.g., indonesian 32SII, Singapore 20S) and some that incorpoprate some fabric (e.g., Singapore 32SII, indonesian 17BII). The latter fits perfectly while the vinyl-cases tend to shrink over the time.

The vinyl cases you mentioned came with my original 42S and 21S purchased when they were introduced.

Most Pioneers I obtained since then (much later) came with the the slightly padded 'Brown' leather-like (sometimes called pleather) cases. I just measured a bunch of them and they range from 5.75" to 6.25" - I knew they varied but didn't realize how much. As noted, machine-fit ranges from sticking out a bit to completely inserted.

Very late Pioneers (the 2nd color scheme 32SII and 20S, the dark-tone 17BII, and maybe very late 27S machines came with a slightly padded 'Black' leather-like case. If you don't put them side-by-side it's easy to not notice the difference. These machines also have 2 large rubber feet at the bottom, rather than the 4 found in earlier machines.

An eBay 'how to buy' article says that late 22S machines came with a recessed LCD display and 'Black' case. Can anyone confirm this?

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-10-2015 01:01 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  An eBay 'how to buy' article says that late 22S machines came with a recessed LCD display and 'Black' case. Can anyone confirm this?

I can confirm the recessed display.



... but the Buyer's Guide doesn't mention the case. Where did you find that info?

[Mark Hardman]

(01-10-2015 01:09 AM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  I can confirm the recessed display.

About a year ago I had the following short exchange with Randy.

Pioneer Variants

After looking at hundreds of HP-22Ss offered on eBay, I had started to doubt what Randy had told me.

Alas, my search will have to go on. Thank you for confirming the existence of this Pioneer variant.

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-10-2015 02:54 AM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  Thank you for confirming the existence of this Pioneer variant.

Sorry, I can't take the credit. This pic is from the Museum's collection.

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-10-2015 02:54 AM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  Alas, my search will have to go on.

I forgot to mention, I call dibbs if one comes up on eBay.

[Mark Hardman]

(01-11-2015 04:07 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  

(01-10-2015 02:54 AM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  Alas, my search will have to go on.

I forgot to mention, I call dibbs if one comes up on eBay.

I will pay double whatever Dave offers! ;-)