HP-01 prototype: What a bargain!

[MarkPalmer]

I got to try on a HP-01 from a friend’s collection a while back. It is a big and heavy watch. But it really is beautiful, and an LED watch is fantastic to look at. The main problem with owning one is if you get one in nice shape, you can only wear it on special occasions and then have to be very careful with it. You don't want to leave the batteries in the watch for too long, and removing/replacing them is a major PITA. It’s really just a collector’s showpiece more so than being anything too exciting, and unless the people you show it off to know exactly what it is, they probably won't be impressed by it. It isn’t anything that typifies HP products either as they weren’t in the jewelry business. For the same amount of money you could almost get all of the models of any one given calculator series (Classic, Woodstock, Spice, etc.) and have one heck of a collection of actual HP calculators. Plus you could use them on a daily basis if you wanted to without much worry.

-Mark-