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**rprosperi** · 11-28-2018, 10:03 PM

(11-28-2018 06:47 PM)Marcelo Vanti Wrote: Hi everyone,
I just bought a new one with serial number cna5050bng. How can I decrypt this number?
Thanks

Code:

cna     5                  05   0bng

^       ^                  ^    ^

Country Last digit of year Week Unit made that week

So, it's the 0bng'th unit made in the 5th week of 2015, at some plant in China.

The odd sequence characters used to denote the unit made that week have never been explained, though non-digit codes are often used by many manufacturers to hide the number of units being made.

edryer · 11-29-2018, 10:47 AM

That is interesting so mine was made 31st week of 2010.

At that stage they were still using the "hard leather" cases, not the soft cases. I wonder when the switch was made.

cdmackay · 11-29-2018, 08:00 PM

(11-28-2018 07:22 PM)edryer Wrote: Doubt when it arrives though I am going to get it with the "hard" case... that I have with my existing one (and which I like very much).

(11-29-2018 10:47 AM)edryer Wrote: At that stage they were still using the "hard leather" cases, not the soft cases. I wonder when the switch was made.

Does anyone have a ref/partno for the leather case?

Mine came with the fabric case, which seems quite good, but I'd like to try the leather one, too. thanks.

Marcelo Vanti · 11-29-2018, 08:12 PM

Thank you rprosperi. So my first 50G is from 2007, and the new one from 20015.

The leather case was beautiful, but the durability was very poor, and the leather was quickly broken. On the other hand the new cases almost do not age. So it was possible I replaced my leather case with a vinyl one.

burkhard · 11-30-2018, 01:41 AM

(11-29-2018 08:12 PM)Marcelo Vanti Wrote: Thank you rprosperi. So my first 50G is from 2007, and the new one from 20015.

The leather case was beautiful, but the durability was very poor, and the leather was quickly broken. On the other hand the new cases almost do not age. So it was possible I replaced my leather case with a vinyl one.

Was there a leather 50g case? I've only seen two kinds of 50g cases and neither one is leather by a long shot.
The first one could charitably be called "pleather" and it's pretty low durability pleather at that. The second one is cloth and a lot tougher.
Am I missing a real leather one?

Massimo Gnerucci · 11-30-2018, 09:27 AM

(11-30-2018 01:41 AM)burkhard Wrote:
(11-29-2018 08:12 PM)Marcelo Vanti Wrote: Thank you rprosperi. So my first 50G is from 2007, and the new one from 20015.

The leather case was beautiful, but the durability was very poor, and the leather was quickly broken. On the other hand the new cases almost do not age. So it was possible I replaced my leather case with a vinyl one.

Was there a leather 50g case? I've only seen two kinds of 50g cases and neither one is leather by a long shot.
The first one could charitably be called "pleather" and it's pretty low durability pleather at that. The second one is cloth and a lot tougher.
Am I missing a real leather one?

No, you aren't.

Marcelo Vanti · 11-30-2018, 12:00 PM

(11-30-2018 01:41 AM)burkhard Wrote: [quote='Marcelo Vanti' pid='108195' dateline='1543522346']
Thank you rprosperi. So my first 50G is from 2007, and the new one from 20015.

The first one could charitably be called "pleather" and it's pretty low durability pleather at that.
Am I missing a real leather one?

you're right, it was the artificial leather i'm talking about. It was often advertised as a "leather case".

edryer · 11-30-2018, 12:31 PM

Sorry yes, it was not leather but looked like it at least!

I can't agree with the lack of durability (in my opinion) - I find it to be be pretty durable - of course I take care of it... and make sure it isn't placed in my rucksack with sharp items or anything that may scuff the case.

It also looks very nice.

Claudio L. · 11-30-2018, 03:28 PM

(11-30-2018 12:31 PM)edryer Wrote: Sorry yes, it was not leather but looked like it at least!

I can't agree with the lack of durability (in my opinion) - I find it to be be pretty durable - of course I take care of it... and make sure it isn't placed in my rucksack with sharp items or anything that may scuff the case.

It also looks very nice.

Unfortunately, it's true that it doesn't last. See the attached picture. One was bought in 2014 and the other one 2006. Used daily but I take good care of my equipment. If I show a picture of the calculators, you can't tell which one is new or old, and you won't be able to tell them apart from a new calc. But the pouch... very different story.

burkhard · (This post was last modified: 11-30-2018 04:56 PM by burkhard.)

(11-30-2018 03:28 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:
(11-30-2018 12:31 PM)edryer Wrote: Sorry yes, it was not leather but looked like it at least!

I can't agree with the lack of durability (in my opinion) - I find it to be be pretty durable - of course I take care of it... and make sure it isn't placed in my rucksack with sharp items or anything that may scuff the case.

It also looks very nice.

Unfortunately, it's true that it doesn't last. See the attached picture. One was bought in 2014 and the other one 2006. Used daily but I take good care of my equipment. If I show a picture of the calculators, you can't tell which one is new or old, and you won't be able to tell them apart from a new calc. But the pouch... very different story.

Ah yes, that's the one I know! 1 micron of soft short-lived bio-degradable vinyl as the outer skin.

It looked great in catalog pictures, but was a disaster in even careful use. When I bought my 50g it came with the new cloth case and I was bummed at first because the pleather one looked good in pictures. But then I realized I was fortunate. :-)

edryer · 11-30-2018, 06:01 PM

Oh OK.... that is not good!!!!

I will buy a third-party case and store the original now I have seen what can happen to it!

Mine though, 2010, is still in as new condition however it rarely is being "used"!

Not good news ((((

Marcelo Vanti · 11-30-2018, 06:09 PM

Even on my desk, and only being handled to store the calculator, my artificial leather case in a few years was torn all over the sides, and I ended up replacing with the new cloth case.

brickviking · 12-01-2018, 04:56 AM

At least in my 2014 50G, I got the 'new' cloth case. I only have had one issue with the case itself, and it relates to that mag-catch. The two retainers on the flap catch aren't sturdy enough, and doesn't hold the catch inside the case very well. I've had to (horror!) hammer the two retaining levers shut against the cloth, and I now have a small hole in the leather section as a result. Sigh.

(Post 321)

grsbanks · 12-01-2018, 11:26 AM

The biggest gripe that I have with the newer, "canvas" like case is the fact that the magnetic fastener is always off-centre. When the top flap comes down and the matching fastener in it clips into place, the thing is lopsided. Always. I have 3 or 4 like that and they *all* present the same defect.

HP67 · 12-04-2018, 10:24 PM

(04-26-2018 04:46 PM)burkhard Wrote:
(04-26-2018 12:28 PM)Zaphod Wrote: The UK amazon one today is only £85 ! ...brand new .... delivered !!

Be quick though, I've seen these offers disappear in a day , one minute there, the next not

Seller watchesandcalculators on Amazon

That £85 is before the 20% V.A.T. is added, right? In theory, a USA buyer should be able to avoid V.A.T., shouldn't he?

Ugh... when I go to the Amazon UK website, I can see the listing, but it also adds "This seller does not deliver to the United States."

So, who in the UK wants to be a mail drop? :-)

burkhard

Wow, that's a surprise. I usually find American sellers who don't sell to Europe or Asia or if they do it's 2x the normal price + 1-2x shipping Sad

HP67 · (This post was last modified: 12-04-2018 10:28 PM by HP67.)

(04-27-2018 11:02 AM)Zaphod Wrote: I can't resist a bargain:

........they sure deliver fast too !, I only ordered yesterday !

and a bonus MP3 player included in the pack ! (I seem to remember getting one of these 50g packs a few years ago and already the mp3 player was getting out of date)

Serial number suggests 2009 production, and it is indeed brand new sealed pack

Get 'em while you can , it's still at £85 right now

Today the deal (a different UK seller and apparently the only guy who has any on UK ebay:

Brand new: lowest price
£356.06

edryer · (This post was last modified: 12-04-2018 11:11 PM by edryer.)

They are increasingly getting hard to find, not only new (for a sensible price) but used, I also checked eBay UK (for a third device) however crazy prices, but those sold (and used) tend to sell from around £60-£90 UK. One thing for sure, they are going up, and will unlikely ever go down. I just hope I can manage to get #3 for a sensible price.

If I had sense when they were discontinued in 2015 I should have offered to take a large quantity off HP (or retailers) for a reasonable price and then hold them for five years or so and then sold them for double the price!

On the other had I better watch for the TI-89 Titanium end of life fire sale!

Craig Bladow · 12-05-2018, 03:20 AM

This discussion had me browsing TAS for used 50g listings over the last few days and none of them had a photo of the battery compartment. My experience is at least 50% of the calculators I've purchased at that auction site that did not have photos of the battery compartment, had some kind of leakage. Sometime I've asked for a photo and sometimes if the calculator is shown working I don't bother.

The good news is, just before posting this, I checked once more and lo and behold there was a 50G with (clean) battery compartment pictures! Key word in that last sentence, "was". Smile

Zaphod · 12-05-2018, 08:33 AM

I've got several too many

I'm def keeping the boxed ones, but could be tempted to trim down my stock of like new ones......

Tim Wessman · 12-07-2018, 04:47 PM

If you was a "new" 50g, buy from hpcalc.org. The ones labeled as "refurbished" are completely unused and new - just sans packaging.