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jthole · 02-03-2020, 10:14 PM

As far as I know, the HP 17Bii+ emulator for Windows is available as a free download for educators only. For us non-educators, is there a way to buy or download the same emulator from HP? I have a HP 17Bii and would like to try the “Plus” on my laptop.

Thanks in advance!

ijabbott · 02-03-2020, 10:41 PM

Internet archive to the rescue!

https://web.archive.org/web/201803190127...emulateurs

jthole · (This post was last modified: 02-04-2020 07:08 AM by jthole.)

Thank you! But isn't that the version that requires a registration key?

I'll try ASAP Smile

Edit: seems to work, but stays in "DEMO" mode; I think that means it won't save settings like skins and macros.

ijabbott · 02-04-2020, 03:26 PM

(02-04-2020 06:06 AM)jthole Wrote: Thank you! But isn't that the version that requires a registration key?

I'll try ASAP

Edit: seems to work, but stays in "DEMO" mode; I think that means it won't save settings like skins and macros.

On Windows 7, it seems to save some settings in a CalcuEmu.ini in its Program Files installation directory. For Windows 10 compliance, it should probably be storing settings in the ProgramData folder or the user's profile so perhaps the OS is preventing the settings being saved.

jthole · 02-04-2020, 07:48 PM

(02-04-2020 03:26 PM)ijabbott Wrote:
(02-04-2020 06:06 AM)jthole Wrote: Thank you! But isn't that the version that requires a registration key?

I'll try ASAP

Edit: seems to work, but stays in "DEMO" mode; I think that means it won't save settings like skins and macros.

On Windows 7, it seems to save some settings in a CalcuEmu.ini in its Program Files installation directory. For Windows 10 compliance, it should probably be storing settings in the ProgramData folder or the user's profile so perhaps the OS is preventing the settings being saved.

Looks like you are correct! I think I have enough info to find out now Smile

Main thing was that I wanted to test which of my HP 17Bii equations do, and don't, run on the "silver" HP 17Bii+. So far I am not disappointed; I only needed a small change to one of them (related to Let / Get and variable initialisation).

**rprosperi** · 02-04-2020, 11:14 PM

(02-04-2020 07:48 PM)jthole Wrote: Main thing was that I wanted to test which of my HP 17Bii equations do, and don't, run on the "silver" HP 17Bii+. So far I am not disappointed; I only needed a small change to one of them (related to Let / Get and variable initialisation).

FYI - It's not clear that the 17BII+ machines (both Gold and Silver have the same bugs) behave 100% identically with the Emulator. I'm not saying I know that they are not compatible, only that the bugs in the devices come from algorithm errors introduced by Kinpo when they re-implemented the 17BII in C, and it's not clear who created the emulator and if it retains the exact same bugs...

Perhaps Don Shepherd has tested the emulator to see if exactly matches the machines?

and perhaps Cyrille knows if the code for the machines and emulator is the same??

Don Shepherd · 02-04-2020, 11:40 PM

(02-04-2020 11:14 PM)rprosperi Wrote: Perhaps Don Shepherd has tested the emulator to see if exactly matches the machines?

Bob, I have not done that.

**rprosperi** · 02-05-2020, 12:00 AM

(02-04-2020 11:40 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:
(02-04-2020 11:14 PM)rprosperi Wrote: Perhaps Don Shepherd has tested the emulator to see if exactly matches the machines?

Bob, I have not done that.

I'm not sure anyone has, I don't recall ever hearing of anyone using the 17BII+ emulator more than just to run it, but if anyone had done this, it likely would have included you, so just wondered out loud.

Thanks.

JT - Since you are aware of the 17BII+ Solver bugs, and are testing these things, maybe run some of the 'bad cases' on both the real device and emulator and see if the results are identical; that may answer this.

Don Shepherd · 02-05-2020, 04:19 AM

(02-05-2020 12:00 AM)rprosperi Wrote: I'm not sure anyone has, I don't recall ever hearing of anyone using the 17BII+ emulator more than just to run it, but if anyone had done this, it likely would have included you, so just wondered out loud.

Thanks Bob. I'm not a big fan of emulators, never have been. To me, the great thing about old HP calculators is using the original hardware with its known limitations to solve problems. I enjoy the challenge. It just wouldn't be the same running programs on emulators.

And I am grateful to folks like Dave Britten and others for introducing me to capabilities of the old iron that had not occurred to me.

jthole · 02-05-2020, 06:24 AM

(02-04-2020 11:40 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:
(02-04-2020 11:14 PM)rprosperi Wrote: Perhaps Don Shepherd has tested the emulator to see if exactly matches the machines?

Bob, I have not done that.

I can tell you that EQ=SIGMA(N:1:N:1) does not work correctly in the emulator. So that is the same behavior as in the gold and silver calculators.

Dave Britten · 02-05-2020, 01:28 PM

I think the best option is still installing the 200LX Connectivity Pack in DOSBox and running the HP Calc app. Smile

It'll do everything the 17BII does, and most (all?) of what the 19BII does.

mfleming · 02-05-2020, 04:27 PM

I've seen mention of the Connectivity Pac before, but never a link to where it can be found. Doesn't seem to be on the S.U.P.E.R. site. Anywhere else?

jthole · 02-05-2020, 04:49 PM

(02-05-2020 01:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote: I think the best option is still installing the 200LX Connectivity Pack in DOSBox and running the HP Calc app. It'll do everything the 17BII does, and most (all?) of what the 19BII does.

But that doesn’t help you decide whether buying the 17Bii+ is worth it ;-)

Don Shepherd · 02-05-2020, 06:53 PM

If you already own a 17b or 17bii, I can't think of a single thing the + offers that you don't already have, except additional memory and maybe a slightly better display. I've been writing solver equations for the 17b for over 13 years now and, while I don't have all of them loaded into memory, I've never felt I needed more memory.

If you mainly just use the financial functions of the 17b and not sophisticated solver equations, then maybe the + will suit your needs, go for it. But if you want to really test the "programming" abilities of the solver, stay away from the +. I learned this a long time ago.

(02-05-2020 04:49 PM)jthole Wrote: But that doesn’t help you decide whether buying the 17Bii+ is worth it ;-)

Dave Britten · 02-05-2020, 06:59 PM

(02-05-2020 04:27 PM)mfleming Wrote: I've seen mention of the Connectivity Pac before, but never a link to where it can be found. Doesn't seem to be on the S.U.P.E.R. site. Anywhere else?

http://dave.brittens.org/CPACK200.ZIP

I'll leave this up for a week or so in case anybody wants it. It's about 1 MB. And if anybody wants to mirror this somewhere more permanent, please go right ahead. Technically it's not freeware, but something tells me HP isn't selling this anymore, so...

Unzip it, and run APP200.BAT. Should run on most MS-DOS machines, up through 32-bit Windows with NTVDM installed/enabled. Otherwise it works fine under DOSBox.

Functionally, it's very similar to an actual 200LX, except there's no task swapping/multitasking, and you press Alt to open the menu, rather than a dedicated Menu key. It doesn't include 1-2-3, but it has a few extras like file translation and backup programs.

mfleming · 02-05-2020, 11:26 PM

Harrah! Thanks Dave! Everything old is new again, and here's my proof...

Moggul · 02-06-2020, 07:58 AM

(02-05-2020 11:26 PM)mfleming Wrote: Harrah! Thanks Dave! Everything old is new again, and here's my proof...

:O :O :O

What phone/device is that one? I like it!

jthole · 02-06-2020, 09:55 AM

(02-05-2020 06:53 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote: If you already own a 17b or 17bii, I can't think of a single thing the + offers that you don't already have, except additional memory and maybe a slightly better display. I've been writing solver equations for the 17b for over 13 years now and, while I don't have all of them loaded into memory, I've never felt I needed more memory.

The main thing it would offer is a better display, and the knowledge I am not carrying around a vintage calculator (my laptop bag leads a rough life).

However ... both of my 17Bii calculators have cost me less than a new silver 17Bii+ would cost, so it might well be false economics ;-)

I cannot remember the last time I needed trig functions, so I don't miss those at all on the 17Bii.

Dave Britten · 02-06-2020, 12:22 PM

(02-06-2020 07:58 AM)Moggul Wrote:
(02-05-2020 11:26 PM)mfleming Wrote: Harrah! Thanks Dave! Everything old is new again, and here's my proof...

:O :O :O

What phone/device is that one? I like it!

https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/gemini-pda

Gemini PDA, inspired by the Psion 5.

Don Shepherd · 02-06-2020, 01:45 PM

(02-06-2020 09:55 AM)jthole Wrote: The main thing it would offer is a better display, and the knowledge I am not carrying around a vintage calculator (my laptop bag leads a rough life).

I cannot remember the last time I needed trig functions, so I don't miss those at all on the 17Bii.

You've got a point about the + being tougher than the original 17b and bii, especially the brown one with the rubberized case (as I recall when I had one). I agree about trig functions; don't need 'em.

If you watch Ebay carefully you can probably find a deal on the +. I recently got a 19bii for $25 and it is in excellent shape, with the battery door on the side. I thought the batt door might be in bad shape (Ebay pictures didn't show it), but it was pristine and the calc works great. My prime factor finder is terrific on the 19bii; you don't have to press RCL to see the factor, it automatically shows it on the additional display line. And with the alpha keyboard, entering equations in the solver is much easier. And the RAND# function is great for games.