Best HP Financial Calculator

[Anderson Costa]

I saw some videos of HP 12C and I am doubtful of one thing: Which HP Financial Calculator is the best?
In Brazilian Market, the HP 12C is used in various financial courses, but I've played around with HP 30b, which is better than the classic HP 12C in some resources and liked it very much.
Can anybody resolve my doubt comparing the HP Financial calculators?

[Blendama]

I'm in finance and love pulling the 12C out of my desk drawer when I've got a quick calculation to do.

However my personal favourite is the 17bii. I love the soft keys and ease of programming.

[Katie Wasserman]

(03-18-2015 01:39 AM)Anderson Costa Wrote:  I saw some videos of HP 12C and I am doubtful of one thing: Which HP Financial Calculator is the best?
In Brazilian Market, the HP 12C is used in various financial courses, but I've played around with HP 30b, which is better than the classic HP 12C in some resources and liked it very much.
Can anybody resolve my doubt comparing the HP Financial calculators?

"Best" is subjective. The 30b can do all the calculations that the 12C can and a lot more. Many people would say that that the 12C is more usable than the 30b as there are no menus to wade through. The 12C is as close to bug-free as a calculator can get (particularly the older models as the low battery indicator works properly); the 30b has some bugs. If you're planning on programming, the 30b and 12C differ in many respects with the 30b being somewhat more versatile.

[John R]

(03-18-2015 02:38 AM)Blendama Wrote:  However my personal favourite is the 17bii. I love the soft keys and ease of programming.

I also vote for the 17BII -- it is also relatively (though not completely) bug-free, but it is more powerful than the 12C. The solver is incredibly useful and versatile, especially on the original versions with the L() and G() functions.

[rprosperi]

The 17BII+, currently still available, is an excellent financial calculator, and probably has the best hardware of any machine HP currently sells. That said, it does have one significant flaw, that being the bug in the solver related to the L() and G() functions, as alluded to by John. If that isn't a concern (likely it is though...) this is "best" in many ways, though as several folks have pointed out, best is relative based on your needs and preferences. HP considers it "best" based on it's price.

[cyrille de brébisson]

Hello,

The easiest to use and most powerful from a number of function standpoint is the 30b. The menu system slows it down a little, but makes sure that anyone with a basic understanding of the calculator can use any of the advanced calculations functions easily without having to refer to the manual. Try doing this with a 12C or 10BII+.

Where the 30b falls short is in the equation solving UI compared with the 17BII+. The smaller screen with the lack of the nice 17BII+ menus blocks things there.
Programming is as powerful as the 12C, with more steps if I remember well, and various programs.

Cyrille

[ElectroDuende]

(03-18-2015 01:39 AM)Anderson Costa Wrote:  I saw some videos of HP 12C and I am doubtful of one thing: Which HP Financial Calculator is the best?
In Brazilian Market, the HP 12C is used in various financial courses, but I've played around with HP 30b, which is better than the classic HP 12C in some resources and liked it very much.
Can anybody resolve my doubt comparing the HP Financial calculators?

Well, it depends; financial dinosaurs (in any way disrespectfully) will tell you that 12C is the best one, and in fact it WAS when they first got it. But times and uses evolve... I, myself, have used, first, an HP48G with financial programs (as I'm an engineer who sometimes has to deal with finance and had it from my University years). Then I got a 17BII (pioneer), much more portable, but also very capable with its solver. I've used it for a couple of years, but finally switched to a 30b, as I sometimes need trig functions not available in 17BII. I recently discovered that it has some bugs in statistical functions; i'd like to update firmare... maybe some day I can find time to build a programming cable.

Now I'm discovering the 27S as an "all rounder"... its a pity is is not RPN.

So, summarizing:

- 30b is the best if you need some scientific functions or work with statistic distributions (but be sure to have a bug free firmware)
- 17BII is the best if you don't need that, and like the SOLVE formula solver. Current version (17bII+) has some problem with L() and G(), so be careful. Otherwise it has a much better display.
- 12C is behind these two (and behind 19BII, that is more capable than 17BII, but fragile and bulkier), but has some kind of "iconic" status.

[Siegfried]

Any judgement on the 19BII?

[ElectroDuende]

(03-18-2015 09:29 AM)Siegfried Wrote:  Any judgement on the 19BII?

As a financial calculator, it is a very powerful one (in fact the most powerful until 30b arrived); it has all the options of 17BII and adds an alphabetical keypad and trigonometrics. On the other hand, it is difficult to use with one hand, and the battery door is very fragile (this was solved in the last units).

[Jlouis]

(03-18-2015 09:29 AM)Siegfried Wrote:  Any judgement on the 19BII?

For me, the best, as well as 27s.

But I like the 12c, it's a classic, the voyager format is a winner.

JL

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

(03-18-2015 09:41 AM)ElectroDuende Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 09:29 AM)Siegfried Wrote:  Any judgement on the 19BII?

As a financial calculator, it is a very powerful one (in fact the most powerful until 30b arrived); it has all the options of 17BII and adds an alphabetical keypad and trigonometrics. On the other hand, it is difficult to use with one hand, and the battery door is very fragile (this was solved in the last units).

In my view, the biggest fault on the 19BII is that you cannot exit the Solver with an Invalid Equation. While on the HP-17BII, you can enter a partial solver equation, exit and then go back and edit it until you get it right.

Bill

[ElectroDuende]

(03-18-2015 10:50 AM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  In my view, the biggest fault on the 19BII is that you cannot exit the Solver with an Invalid Equation. While on the HP-17BII, you can enter a partial solver equation, exit and then go back and edit it until you get it right.

Bill

I'm not lucky yet to have a 19BII, so I didn't know this "feature". Maybe it is done to speed up later equation loading in memory? Does it also take some seconds (that can be up to minutes in case of very long equations) to check an equation every time you "load" it?

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(03-18-2015 07:58 AM)ElectroDuende Wrote:  Then I got a 17BII (pioneer), much more portable, but also very capable with its solver. I've used it for a couple of years, but finally switched to a 30b, as I sometimes need trig functions not available in 17BII.

You can have all the six functions available at once in one single equation. You can try it on Emu42 first before deciding to key all that into the real HP-17BII:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-2630.html

[ElectroDuende]

(03-18-2015 12:09 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  You can have all the six functions available at once in one single equation. You can try it on Emu42 first before deciding to key all that into the real HP-17BII:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-2630.html

Yes, I know that, thank you. I even typed it once and used for some time, but loading the equation every time you need to use trigs is too slow. I know that you can exit the solver without leaving the equation, but I frequently used other equations, so...

As I said before, I am now discovering the 27S, with a quite used unit I got really cheap in ebay, and I love all that it offers... excepting that it isn't RPN :-(

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(03-18-2015 12:19 PM)ElectroDuende Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:09 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  You can have all the six functions available at once in one single equation. You can try it on Emu42 first before deciding to key all that into the real HP-17BII:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-2630.html

Yes, I know that, thank you. I even typed it once and used for some time, but loading the equation every time you need to use trigs is too slow. I know that you can exit the solver without leaving the equation, but I frequently used other equations, so...

As I said before, I am now discovering the 27S, with a quite used unit I got really cheap in ebay, and I love all that it offers... excepting that it isn't RPN :-(

The HP-19BII might be an option if your solver equations include trigonometric functions. Also, once entered and verified, the equations don't need to be verified again. The HP-200LX solver behaves likewise. These are less convenient than the Pioneer form factor, however.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(03-18-2015 12:19 PM)ElectroDuende Wrote:  As I said before, I am now discovering the 27S, with a quite used unit I got really cheap in ebay, and I love all that it offers... excepting that it isn't RPN :-(

Go and get an HP-27, then. ;)

[ElectroDuende]

(03-18-2015 12:37 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Go and get an HP-27, then.

Ha ha...

I wouldn't mind... but I have other priorities... collecting is a long run race...

[Don Shepherd]

(03-18-2015 11:17 AM)ElectroDuende Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 10:50 AM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  In my view, the biggest fault on the 19BII is that you cannot exit the Solver with an Invalid Equation. While on the HP-17BII, you can enter a partial solver equation, exit and then go back and edit it until you get it right.

Bill

I'm not lucky yet to have a 19BII, so I didn't know this "feature". Maybe it is done to speed up later equation loading in memory? Does it also take some seconds (that can be up to minutes in case of very long equations) to check an equation every time you "load" it?

What Bill is referring to is a truly maddening feature unique to the 19b/19bii, AFAIK. On a 17b/17bii, when you are done entering your equation you press CALC. If an error is detected at that point, and you don't want to take the time to figure it out, you can press EXIT and your equation is still saved, with the error, for later correction. On the 19b, an equation with an error cannot be saved. If you don't correct it when it first happens, as soon as you press EXIT your equation is erased and gone, and all the entry work you just did is lost forever. This is more of a problem when you are entering very long equations, obviously. On a 17b you can enter a long equation in steps or "stubs", to check parts of it as you go, but you can't do that on the 19b.

[Dave Britten]

I prefer the 200LX. It's got a calculator application that's effectively a superset of the 17BII and 19BII, plus it has Lotus 1-2-3 built in. Being able to run tons of other DOS software on it is also a nice plus.

[Tim Wessman]

I'd vote for the 10bII+. Then again, I made the thing so am rather biased. Algebraic only, but for convenience and power both you can't beat the price.