NEW: HP 15C Collectors Edition

[Steve Simpkin]

(04-04-2024 01:39 PM)chromos Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 06:37 AM)Michael Lopez Wrote:  ... Have seen reference in the Calculator Store to increasing the key bounce time tolerance from 80 to 100 ... are there any references to the addresses to be altered?

(04-02-2024 06:19 AM)Johnh Wrote:  I'm also interested in such a key-bounce fix.

(04-03-2024 08:54 AM)Michael Lopez Wrote:  ... I was interested in trying to increase key bounce tolerance from 80 to 100 mS. Is there a post we can refer to on how to make this change? I already have your POGO pin cable.

I also bought a cable from thecalculatorstore.com and would also like to increase the debouncing time from 80 ms to 100 ms. On the calculatorstore.com website, I only found information about the firmware modification to fix the dec bug, but nothing about debouncing keys. Please, I beg you Mr. Divasson to publish this information. Thank you.

Try sending Divasson an email or a PM.
https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/user-1020.html

[Vjsilva]

I'm in the market for a very good condition HP 15C and I see the Collectors Edition is still available at a good price. My main concern is when old designs are refreshed they tend to skimp on the robustness due to pricing. So is the new HP15C Collector Edition as reliable as the original?
I still have my HP16C from the 90's and it feels so solid.

Thanks,
Victor

[chromos]

(04-04-2024 06:03 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  Try sending Divasson an email or a PM.

I took your advice and got it sorted. Thanx.

[vaklaff]

(04-05-2024 08:20 PM)Vjsilva Wrote:  I'm in the market for a very good condition HP 15C and I see the Collectors Edition is still available at a good price. My main concern is when old designs are refreshed they tend to skimp on the robustness due to pricing. So is the new HP15C Collector Edition as reliable as the original?
I still have my HP16C from the 90's and it feels so solid.

Thanks,
Victor

I don’t see or feel any substantial difference but maybe I’m not sensitive enough. In any case, the only way to know if the new Voyagers will work in 30 years from now is to buy and use them for 30 years :-)

[Martin Hepperle]

In oder to make it easier for me to select the proper button on the programming cables I put some white enamel paint into the engravings and used some cloth with mild solvent to wipe off the excess.

Works for the old as well as for the new programming cables for me.

Martin

   

[Michael Lopez]

(04-04-2024 06:03 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  

(04-04-2024 01:39 PM)chromos Wrote:  I also bought a cable from thecalculatorstore.com and would also like to increase the debouncing time from 80 ms to 100 ms. On the calculatorstore.com website, I only found information about the firmware modification to fix the dec bug, but nothing about debouncing keys. Please, I beg you Mr. Divasson to publish this information. Thank you.

Try sending Divasson an email or a PM.
https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/user-1020.html

Thanks & have.

Cheers,

Michael

[linq2008]

Good idea，I marked as X

(04-06-2024 07:10 PM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  In oder to make it easier for me to select the proper button on the programming cables I put some white enamel paint into the engravings and used some cloth with mild solvent to wipe off the excess.

Works for the old as well as for the new programming cables for me.

Martin

[Peter Ketcham]

(03-22-2024 04:50 PM)Divasson Wrote:  We have received a new lot of calculators, and these come again with a plastic applied to the bezel, as the initial prototype. That will ensure less damage during transport...These are already part of the second production batch - see serial number.

I'm pleased to know that the new lot, 9CJ351, will have a protective plastic film applied to the bezel. I ordered two units of the 15c CE in late 2023 from lot 9CJ323 and both had abrasions on the bezel. I decided to keep both units, but I would like to order two additional units from lot 9CJ351.

Is there anyone I can contact at Royal Consumer Information Products to find out if they are currently shipping units from lot 9CJ351?

Also, I'm curious to know how many units were produced in lots 9CJ323 and 9CJ351.

I purchased an HP 41C in 1979 and it served me well for many years until I dropped it one too many times. I always regretted not purchasing at least one unit each of the original 15c and 16c in the 1980s. I was pleasantly stunned when I read the announcement last year about the forthcoming 15c CE. I knew at the time that I would order at least six units and not miss my chance this time. I've recently viewed some presentations from the HHC 2023 conference and I'm hoping that there will be a future 16c CE as well.

[Divasson]

Innards of a 2023-batch HP15c CE unit:





Access to the keyboard may be impossible without destroying the rivets!

On the right side there is a place for a nano-USB for the DIY-inclined.

[isanchez]

Hello,
I received my new HP15C from thecalculatorstore and I must say I am really impressed. I'm not too excited about the "new" HP models, I mean "new" for the HP48 series so far, but I have to say this is an exception. Even more so when I take the opportunity of the 20% discount to buy another one for daily use. I'll keep the other one safe. Just to thank HP on this gift...I find it is a really good work done.

Regards

Ignacio

[Earle Grey]

(12-18-2023 09:04 PM)ametts Wrote:  So I ordered my HP 15C CE from hpofficesupply.com (Royal Consumer Information Products), and I'm not particularly impressed with this vendor....<snip>

The good news is that the 15C actually arrived today after only two business days. The bad news is that the bezel is blemished, and there's a protective film over the window in the presentation box that's all mangled....<snip>

Greetings all, from the Chicago-USA area! ametts' post caused me to finally join this forum after a bit of lurking. Well, their post AND the arrival yesterday of my new 15c CE. Yay!

A little backstory: Bought my second hp11c in 1983 (after my first was stolen) and have used it continuously since—heavily for the first 15 yr. It met all my scientific needs and, like many of you, I was dismayed to see the line discontinued at the dawning of the '90s. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, every so often I would check out pawn shops in collegiate areas, but never found another. When the internet came along and ebay launched, I occasionally would marvel at the premium asking prices for the few listed, and relished using my trusty ol' 11c.

In the early teens I became aware of the 11c emulator by RLM, and that was the SOLE motivation for my acquisition of an iphone, giving up my Palm Pre (an early webOS-based smartphone). Finally I had a functional 11c replacement! Well, apps change with time and I continued to favor that original 11c, despite the dings, scratches and wear. (Although, through some miracle, all four rubber feet survive to this day!) Bringing me to last month when my deteriorating vision, combined with fading of the gold faceplate print and dissatisfaction with recent emulators, caused me to sniff around for a real replacement.

Just in time to read about the 15c CE. As far as I could see, it was a more advanced member of the Voyager line, and a near perfect replacement for my forty-one year old 11c. Could it still be found? My heart quickened as it seemed they were! I perspired when seeing an unbelievably low price—albeit in Euro, which meant shipping and customs fees. No matter, hp had licensed some domestic hpofficesupply vendor to sell them. Free shipping! USD129 — cheap! as they used to write in Mad Magazine!

Immediately I ordered: site crashed. Tried making a user account and ordered again: site crashed again. Tried other browsers: site kept crashing. It was late and so I went to bed, to give them time to get the site working again. Next day: site still crashing. It was still during their business hours, so I called the number listed on the site: answered at a noisey call center by someone speaking Southeast-asian English as a second language, who confirmed: the number did not belong to hpofficesupply. I searched the interwebz to see if there had been reports of their closing without success. hp's website still redirected me to the dead site. I sent an email to (the dead site's) support edress, inquiring, and waited a week: no reply. I read up about Swiss Micro, and decided against it because I preferred the look and feel of the hp product. Of course, my 11c still works and, in fact, has outlived 4 automobiles, 3 pets, 9 apartments, many lovers, and both my parents. It may outlive me. But I want a new calc.

Finally I bit the proverbial • (not sure if the word is allowed here) and ordered a 15c CE on ebay from a vendor seeming to have many for sale, at nearly the same price as the dead site, claiming them to be new, etc. And it arrived yesterday! Yes, it seems new. The slipcover fits awkwardly, but many of you probably know that by now.

SO, BACK TO THE REASON FOR MY POST HERE....
(1) It appears that hpofficesupply has gone out of business. I am unable to identify an officially licensed vendor in the USA for the 15c CE.
(2) I see no blemishes, scratches, markings, or even dust anywhere on the bezel, the faceplate, the sides or the back.
(3) I was amused to find the protective film was on the outside of the box, sloppily stuck across the plastic window, with wrinkles. I didn't care until reading here that it may indicate an old production run, or a returned item. But the factory seal was intact on the box flaps.
(4) If someone here will tell me where to find the production run number, I will share.
(5) I see that the ebay seller has in raised the price and shipping a bit, so maybe they have also had trouble getting more of the 15c CE from their supplier, but this is mere speculation.

Thanks to everyone here for your informative posts, to the moderators for enduring patience, and to the site owner for hosting us!

—Earle
(Yes my email address is a trek reference, and yes I made up the edress 29 years ago on AOL, and still use it.)

[rprosperi]

(05-22-2024 12:36 AM)Earle Grey Wrote:  (1) It appears that hpofficesupply has gone out of business. I am unable to identify an officially licensed vendor in the USA for the 15c CE.

I just checked and the hpofficesupply.com site was working fine (as fine as it has...)

https://hpofficesupply.com/product-categ...lculators/

This is Royal and is in fact HP's Official Licensee for the Americas. The tech support folks may say they are from Royal and possibly this is the cause for the identity confusion.

[Earle Grey]

(05-22-2024 01:20 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(05-22-2024 12:36 AM)Earle Grey Wrote:  (1) It appears that hpofficesupply has gone out of business. I am unable to identify an officially licensed vendor in the USA for the 15c CE.

I just checked and the hpofficesupply.com site was working fine (as fine as it has...)

https://hpofficesupply.com/product-categ...lculators/

This is Royal and is in fact HP's Official Licensee for the Americas. The tech support folks may say they are from Royal and possibly this is the cause for the identity confusion.

Well. that is very interesting, because I checked them again this afternoon, before starting my post here, and again it crashed (when clicking the button to advance to payment, after entering address info). A brief message appeared on a white screen-just two lines. I never took a snipping though. I previously used multiple browsers on iPad and on Mac, running current OS's. I really wanted to buy from them. Hence my calls (two different days) and email to them. Magically, after reading your post, NOW it goes to the payment page which it never got to before. I can't explain it, but obviously I'm no longer in the market. Still got my 11c, 32s (which I never liked) and a new 15c CE.

I was just trying to help folks.
And after reading ametts impressions of hpofficesupply's professionalism, it seemed they'd finally gone under. Hopefully others will have better luck!

[Earle Grey]

(05-22-2024 01:20 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  This is Royal and is in fact HP's Official Licensee for the Americas. The tech support folks may say they are from Royal and possibly this is the cause for the identity confusion.

Just to clarify, I called the sales number listed on the website (833) 523-0800, and asked the gentleman who answered explicitly "Is this hp office supply?" and the very clear reply was "No", so I apologized, thanked him, said goodbye, and hung up. That was April 29th. I called again on May 1. Same call center answered. I really don't know what more a consumer can do when the voice answering the website's sales line denies the identity of the website, when the website cannot complete a sale, and the company ignores email inquiries. Would you give such an operation your credit card number? I truly hope they are able to stabilize the site, retrain their call center, and have success selling this marvelous calculator in North America.

—Earle.

[rprosperi]

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not apologizing for such behavior, it's all horrible and all part of the sales prevention systems they seem to have in place, I was just trying to explain they are indeed solvent and a possible reason for the poor communications. It's all pretty sad... <sigh>

[ctrclckws]

(05-22-2024 12:36 AM)Earle Grey Wrote:  Greetings all, from the Chicago-USA area! ametts' post caused me to finally join this forum after a bit of lurking. Well, their post AND the arrival yesterday of my new 15c CE. Yay!

A little backstory: Bought my second hp11c in 1983 (after my first was stolen) and have used it continuously since—heavily for the first 15 yr. It met all my scientific needs and, like ...


—Earle

(Yes my email address is a trek reference, and yes I made up the edress 29 years ago on AOL, and still use it.)

Welcome to the forum, it's nice to read of an 11c that is well used and loved.

Glad you were able to obtain your 15C CE.

There are two numbers on the back of the device.
One is the Lot Number 9CJxyy x is probable 3, for 2023. yy is the week in 2023 that it was produced. This is likely on a paper sticker above the formula printing.

The second number is at the bottom of the label, and reads:
Collector's Edition Number nnnnn.
That is a serial number within the batch.


By the way, I am also an E. Gray. and my favored user name is a reference to old barber clocks that looked backwards but when you see it in a mirror, looked normal.

[Gene]

I have passed this issue along to the contact I have within Royal.

fYI

gene

[Earle Grey]

(05-22-2024 12:11 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  ... all part of the sales prevention systems they seem to have in place.... <snip>

Thanks, Bob. (And LoL at "sales prevention system"!)

I may have come across as a little defensive, and struggled a bit over my wording in reply to you. It's hard to describe a disappointing experience while at the same time expressing genuine best wishes to a business enterprise that may be having its own opaque difficulties. Ultimately, I try to assume innocence and good intentions by others.

As you are also a forum moderator, may I ask you a question? I became aware last night of an officially licensed hp-15c emulator app for smartphones, apparently sold by Moravia Consulting. It is reasonably priced and I may purchase it to maintain consistency with my 15c CE. Is there a forum on this site for emulators of this type? I saw a "not quite hp" category, and a "not remotely hp" category, but have not yet become fluent in everything here in the museum forums. So is there a place where the emulators are discussed, critiqued, and explored? If you could point me in the right direction, thank you.

—Earle.

[Earle Grey]

(05-22-2024 12:29 PM)ctrclckws Wrote:  Welcome to the forum, it's nice to read of an 11c that is well used and loved.

Glad you were able to obtain your 15C CE.

There are two numbers on the back of the device.
One is the Lot Number 9CJxyy x is probable 3, for 2023. yy is the week in 2023 that it was produced. This is likely on a paper sticker above the formula printing.

The second number is at the bottom of the label, and reads:
Collector's Edition Number nnnnn.
That is a serial number within the batch.

By the way, I am also an E. Gray. and my favored user name is a reference to old barber clocks that looked backwards but when you see it in a mirror, looked normal.

Thank you for the welcome, E. Gray "ctrclckws"! It did take me a minute to parse-out "counterclockwise" and I think it's brilliant! I, too, have encountered such a clock. It hung behind a soffit at my favored pub, but became visible to bar patrons in the reflection of the large mirror behind the liquor bottles.

My 15c CE has a small sticker on the back saying "L/NO. 9CJ323" from which I conclude it was produced in early December of 2023. I'm not sure what interesting features can be inferred from that. Does it still require a firmware patch that I've read about? I am not confident of my competence to perform such an operation.

Back in the '80s, the gossip among us 11c users was that the contacts under the keys were gold-plated, to resist corrosion. I could not verify that at the time, and just naively believed it. But I do find mention of this even today on a web page of vcalc.net which excerpts a passage credited to:

ELECTRONIC PACKAGING and PRODUCTION Magazine
MARCH, 1982
pp 157-158
By Howard W. Markstein, Western Editor

Do you know if anyone has torn apart the 15c CE to see if it has maintained that durability factor, among others? (Such as shock-resisting bumpers, etc.)

EDIT: ps, Decoding the serial no. of my 11c shows it was made in early April of 1982. Wow! Sure been a lot of water under THAT bridge!

Thanks for your time!
—Earle.

[Johnh]

Just chipping in about emulators, particularly for the Hp15c, on Android.

I think there are only two on Google Play that come up as being installable on recent-model Android phones, with the current Android version. These are JRPN15 by Jovial, and Touch RPN by Stendec. There may be others that can run If already installed (eg, if transferred from older phones with Smart Switch), but are prevented from new installs by the Google-police since they have not been certified for the current Android. I think that includes the official Hp sim for the Hp15.

But the two I note above are both really good and seem fully functional for use as an on-phone alternative to a physical Hp15c.

Touch RPN includes ad-supported versions of all the Voyagers It's great to be able to explore what they all do. Then you can spend a few $ to get ad-free on the ones that you want. I actually have an earlier version, that I bought before all the Voyager models were combined, just for the '15. It has transferred through several of my phones, but is not available now The things I like about the Touch apps are being able to save and load full memories, as many different versions as you wish. This makes it a great scratch-pad for developing new programs, ahead of keying them into a physical calc. Also, I think the Touch apps have the best look and feedback feel of any of the past or present sims for these calcs. You can also maximise the button and display area, trimming off the bezel, so that the working area is almost as large as the real calc, on a standard-size Galaxy phone. I used to have the official Hp15 app, but uninstalled it because I preferred the Touch version.

I think JRPN15 is newer, also fully functional. It not quite as nice and natural looking as Touch, and doesn't have that expansion feature to trim the bezel so the working area stays a bit smaller. But, two nice features:

You can edit certain colours, and I boosted the orange gold tones of the f key and labels to make them brighter, matching the real Hp15C-CE tones, rather than the deeper reddish tones of earlier ones.

The other feature of JRPN15 that I like is very compelling. Apart from saving and loading memory states, it can also copy the program memory to the Clipboard. Then you can paste into a text app and get an instant program listing with line numbers, key codes and key names. That's very useful for when transferring to the real calculator. Attached is a screen shot of a trivial program, just to illustrate (Label A does a 1/x and then returns).