Too many calculators?

[Peter Klein]

Upon hearing Mozart’s opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio," Emperor Joseph II reportedly exclaimed, "Too many notes." Mozart retorted, "Just as many as necessary, your Majesty." Sometimes that argument runs through my head when I contemplate my "stash" of HP calculators.

I’m not an engineer. I'm a music and theater major who luckily blundered into IT to make a living. I'm now retired. I'm also a ham radio operator. I am a diehard RPN fan. I started with RPN on an HP-25 in the 70s and never looked back. I acquired an 11c in the 1980s. Then c. 2000, I discovered that my employer had a spare 32s sitting around. That became my calculator of choice. A couple of colleagues who found out I liked RPN gave me their 32s calculators when they "upgraded" or retired. Nobody else wanted them(!)

And, of course, I bought a few more HPs. I concentrated on user machines that worked well but didn’t always look perfect. Part of my rationale was to have some spares, so I wouldn't be forced to use an algebraic calculator in my old age if my older HPs wore out. Part was a quest to find the unattainable perfect combination of keyboard ergonomics and display readability. And part was that I just like the darn things. So I now have nine RPN HPs, which I alternate using. That leads to a bit of keyboard confusion.

Lately, I've been thinking that maybe I have too many calculators. Maybe I should sell a couple, and maybe pick up one of the SwissMicro machines. There's no perfect calculator, and perhaps I'm letting the ideal become the enemy of the good. Honestly, all I really need is a decent programmable scientific RPN calculator. Any one of my "stash" will do. But I do like to play with numbers, occasionally solve an equation, and learn some new (for me) math. Forget RPL and graphing calculators. I have a couple of the low-end models (48S and 48G). I've played with them, but I never really use them. They go beyond my tolerance for complexity in a hand calculator.

So I'm wondering what I should do. I could keep what I have, and hope at least some last for the next ~20 years. I could also thin the herd a bit, and invest in a SwissMicro DM42 or DM32. That would give me the ability to store, retrieve and print programs with my PC. And give me some newer electronics that might(?) last longer than my current HP machines.

Here's my "stash" of working HP RPNs:
11c, 32s (three!), 32sii, 33s (two), 42s, WP34s

My top criteria are very readable display (for aging eyes), keyboard suitable for my big hands, robustness and reliability, a decent equation solver. Oddly, my "beater" 42s is my least favorite because of the less readable display, sensitivity to viewing angle and complex menu system. I use the 32s most of all, because with its simple menu system, I can always find what I need to do quickly. I use Free42 on my phone.

So, what would you do if you were me?

Best wishes to all!
--Peter