HP 12C - refresh batteries or not?

[jthole]

Hello,

This week I found a HP 12C in great condition. It was clearly always taken care of very well, and came complete with the booklet and the pouch. According to the serial number, the calculator was made in 1993, in Singapore. The gentleman who sold it to me said that it was always used by his wife. It could very well still have the original batteries, but anyway, it has not been used for several years.

The calculator passes the self tests, and the screen does not show a low battery warning. However, given the low cost of LR44 batteries compared to the value of the calculator, would it be a good idea to refresh the batteries just in case? I bought it for fun, but I don't intend to take it with me as my daily calculator (I don't have an office desk, so it would have to travel in my laptop bag every day). So it will be idle here for most of the time as well.

BTW, as a carry everywhere calculator (and as a replacement for my bulky HP 35S) I ordered a SwissMicros DM15L. I have considered a DM16L, but while the binary operations and base conversions are great, it's been a few years already since I did serious programming and debugging. Given my demands, a DM11L would have done nicely as well, but I'm using a HP 15C emulator (and Free42) on my phone so I am used to the button layout anyway.

Thanks for any insights on the 12C battery replacement!