(12C/11C) Changing the firmware

[rprosperi]

(04-18-2023 08:23 AM)HP-12C Wrote:  Bob; is the internals swapping very common on eBay and elsewhere, or just the actions of a few calculator sellers?

I would not say common and likely not on eBay since refunds are always available.

I've never experienced it personally, but have heard of two cases (one before this one) where someone put a 12C board into a higher-value Voyager in order to sell it. And while casually casting aspersions above on the sellers, I really can't rule out that they were simply swapping parts among machines on hand which looked alike without knowing more. In the earlier case it was a cheap 12C sheep in expensive 15C clothing, but an 11C here. In both cases, it was purchased via a channel where refunds were not possible.

OTOH, eBay listings for a 12C which are actually an 11C, 15C or 16C, simply because the seller didn't look closely enough, are not at all uncommon. On many occasions when I've seen this, the model # badge is missing, so the seller is doing only a casual visual comparison to other listings.

When I feel unsure about a thing like this, I would ask the seller to conduct a self-test and then send a photo of the result.