If I were to buy an LED model...

[Michael de Estrada]

(11-09-2019 01:35 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Are the Spice models especially troublesome to keep working? It seems like a working 38C/E can be had for under $100, but I wouldn't want it to turn into a money pit/time sink.

The Spices are flimsy and tend to fall apart, but if you are very gentle with them they will continue to work. Many of them have corroded circuit board lands and/or broken battery contacts, so they can’t be charged or run off batteries. The first generation Spices used a stupid unsoldered construction that relies on the IC chips, control board and LED array being tightly clamped together. Over time parts get loose and you start losing segments in the LED display and random error messages. The cases crack, the keyboards develop bad keys and and the On/Off switch becomes flakey. I am constantly having to open mine to replace parts pirated from other non-working Spices, so they are definitely high maintenance.

The Spices were a failed attempt by HP to match pricing of competitors such as TI, by making them cheaply, and it almost destroyed their reputation for producing premium quality calculators. They returned to their senses with the Voyagers, which are the highest quality and most durable calculators HP ever made.