Was gifted some old HP's today... questions

[Dave Britten]

(11-22-2022 04:03 AM)johnb Wrote:  Interesting you mention keeping one close at hand. Personally, I find that the 11c hits the sweet spot between functionality and ease of use. Both the 11c and 15c have a digit-at-a-time backspace key that the 10c lacks, and if you use one any of this series of calculator a lot, you'll appreciate having it. The 15c can handle complex numbers and small matrices, which the 11c and 10c cannot, but for those, you'll probably prefer using your 50g or your Prime. I find the layout is simply better on the 11c --- but if you told me I could only ever carry either a 10c or a 15c from now on instead of my 11c, I'd definitely pick the 15c, not for the additional power, but for that doggone backspace key!

(The other HP that really hits a sweet spot between functionality and accessibility is the 32sII, but I digress...)


Just my highly opinionated... er... opinion. ;-D

I agree, I've always felt like the 11C was HP's most elegant scientific model. Maybe not the most powerful, but it really nails the balance of features, size, performance, power consumption, etc. Also mostly agreed regarding the 32SII, but I think they should have given it at least 2 KB of RAM for it to really shine. It's a great calculator otherwise.

To the OP, regarding the HP 45, you can probably get it working with a fresh set of batteries. Search ebay for "Rechargeable HP Calculator Battery Classic CASE", get a set of Eneloop AAAs and a charger, and there's a good chance you'll be up and running. I have a few of these battery cases for my 45, 80, 55, and 65. The old "Classic" models were relatively bulletproof, so there's a good chance it will work fine once you've got a power source. You might need to open it and clean the key contacts, though (pretty easy to do).