NEW: HP 15C Collectors Edition

[Earle Grey]

(05-22-2024 12:29 PM)ctrclckws Wrote:  Welcome to the forum, it's nice to read of an 11c that is well used and loved.

Glad you were able to obtain your 15C CE.

There are two numbers on the back of the device.
One is the Lot Number 9CJxyy x is probable 3, for 2023. yy is the week in 2023 that it was produced. This is likely on a paper sticker above the formula printing.

The second number is at the bottom of the label, and reads:
Collector's Edition Number nnnnn.
That is a serial number within the batch.

By the way, I am also an E. Gray. and my favored user name is a reference to old barber clocks that looked backwards but when you see it in a mirror, looked normal.

Thank you for the welcome, E. Gray "ctrclckws"! It did take me a minute to parse-out "counterclockwise" and I think it's brilliant! I, too, have encountered such a clock. It hung behind a soffit at my favored pub, but became visible to bar patrons in the reflection of the large mirror behind the liquor bottles.

My 15c CE has a small sticker on the back saying "L/NO. 9CJ323" from which I conclude it was produced in early December of 2023. I'm not sure what interesting features can be inferred from that. Does it still require a firmware patch that I've read about? I am not confident of my competence to perform such an operation.

Back in the '80s, the gossip among us 11c users was that the contacts under the keys were gold-plated, to resist corrosion. I could not verify that at the time, and just naively believed it. But I do find mention of this even today on a web page of vcalc.net which excerpts a passage credited to:

ELECTRONIC PACKAGING and PRODUCTION Magazine
MARCH, 1982
pp 157-158
By Howard W. Markstein, Western Editor

Do you know if anyone has torn apart the 15c CE to see if it has maintained that durability factor, among others? (Such as shock-resisting bumpers, etc.)

EDIT: ps, Decoding the serial no. of my 11c shows it was made in early April of 1982. Wow! Sure been a lot of water under THAT bridge!

Thanks for your time!
—Earle.