HP-55… Any takers

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

(09-14-2022 03:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Despite its shortcomings, was there a notable crowd for the 55?

Considering it's rarity I would say no. And I think this is mainly because in 1975 HP did not hold the monopoly for scientific pocket calculators any more. Not even for programmable scientific pocket calculators.

If I had been shopping for a calculator in 1975 (I was not because at that time calculators were not allowed at my school yet, only one or two years later) my choice would not have been between an HP-65 for 800$ or an HP-55 for 400$, but instead between an HP-65 or a Ti SR-52, which also cost slightly below 400$, and offered more of everyhing than both HPs.

My own statistics show that to some extent. My collection, which I build on a rather tight budget, contains only one HP-55 (working) but three SR-52s (also working). At least here in Europe Ti already had overtaken HP on the market by a wide margin in the mid 1970ies. Which was mainly due to the insanely high prices HP charged in these years around here, whereas Ti prices were the same everywhere.

Regards
Max