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Printed users guides from HP
09-26-2015, 04:01 AM
Post: #1
Printed users guides from HP
Greetings,

Within the last few months, I've purchased an HP Prime, an HP 35s and 3 HP 50Gs. Is it be possible to get HP to send me printed copies of the users manuals for my new calculators?

I tried to fill out a form on the HP Customer Service web site but was redirected to a page which told me that there is no warranty info on my products.

Thank you,
Jim
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09-26-2015, 11:27 AM
Post: #2
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 04:01 AM)Skyblues Wrote:  Greetings,

Within the last few months, I've purchased an HP Prime, an HP 35s and 3 HP 50Gs. Is it be possible to get HP to send me printed copies of the users manuals for my new calculators?

I tried to fill out a form on the HP Customer Service web site but was redirected to a page which told me that there is no warranty info on my products.

Thank you,
Jim

Unfortunately, no. The Prime has never had an actual hard-copy manual, only the PDF copy that is installed with the emulator (or on the CD).

The 35S did have printed manuals available from HP upon request (even for free) for about the first year that it was sold, but after that they were no longer available.

The 50g also never had original printed manuals from HP, however Dizzy of this forum has done hard copy print runs of the 50g User Guide and AUR (e.g. see here: http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-977.html). Each print run occurs after about another 20-25 people have expressed interest, so either add your name via a reply, or contact Dizzy via PM/Email; the manuals are obviously not free, but very high quality and everyone has been quite happy with the results.

--Bob Prosperi
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09-26-2015, 01:11 PM
Post: #3
Check your warranty status
(09-26-2015 04:01 AM)Skyblues Wrote:  ... was redirected to a page which told me that there is no warranty info on my products.
...
There is an HP web page where you can enter the serial number of your HP device to find out the warranty or contract information.

Often it will come back and ask for the actual product number before it provides the warranty details.
   
For example, when I enter the serial number of my HP 50g, it produces an error and displays a page with a red box for the Product Number. When I fill that box in with 'F2229AA', it completes.
   
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09-26-2015, 01:36 PM (This post was last modified: 09-26-2015 01:38 PM by striegel.)
Post: #4
Can produce unreliable answers
(09-26-2015 01:11 PM)striegel Wrote:  There is an HP web page where you can enter the serial number of your HP device to find out the warranty or contract information.
Be aware that not all of HP's calculator division products can be looked up this way. If I enter the serial number and Product Number from an HP 100LX (Product Number F1020A given an a sticker still attached to its back surface), the lookup gives an error.
   

I don't know the Product Number for every one of HP's calculators, but several of the most recent ones are:

F2215AA HP 35s Scientific Calculator
F2229AA HP 50g Graphing Calculator
F2230A HP 12c Financial Calculator
F2231AA HP 12c Platinum Financial Calculator
G8X92AA HP Prime v2 Graphing Calculator
NW239AA HP 10bII+ Financial Calculator
NW276AA HP 10s+ Scientific Calculator
NW277AA HP 300s+ Scientific Calculator
NW280AA HP Prime Graphing Calculator

I can't swear by all of these, since I just pulled them from the latest HP price file.
(BTW, what is the difference between Prime and Prime v2?)

If I look up my old 12C (serial number indicates a 1988 date of manufacture), it seems to think it's much newer than it actually is - 2005.
   
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09-26-2015, 01:40 PM
Post: #5
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 11:27 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  The 50g also never had original printed manuals from HP

I actually have an original HP-printed 50g manual. I think they may have been included in early 50g packages, or possibly available by request directly from HP. I bought this manual a couple years ago as a standalone item on TAS so I'm not sure of its exact provenance.

John
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09-26-2015, 04:49 PM
Post: #6
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 11:27 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  The 35S did have printed manuals available from HP upon request (even for free) for about the first year that it was sold, but after that they were no longer available.

Hm... I got my 35s shortly after it became available over here in Europe. It came with a decent printed manual (1st ed., February 2007). No need to ask HP or someone else for a copy. On the other hand there was no CD/PDF and no emulator.

BTW, at least the German version of the 35s manual (that's what I got) has some hilarious translation errors. I strongly suggest that HP have their manuals proof read by a native speaker who knows both the language and the math stuff. So that "log" is no longer translated as "Eintrag". #-)

(09-26-2015 11:27 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  The 50g also never had original printed manuals from HP

What? No printed manual even for HP's top of the range device? Hard to believe when I remember my 34C and 41C that came with three different manuals, mostly even spiral bound. And, more important, without (major) translation errors. ;-)

Dieter
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09-26-2015, 09:58 PM
Post: #7
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 11:27 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  The 50g also never had original printed manuals from HP
Actually, over here in Europe the HP 50g comes with a locale specific set of three or four printed user manuals (UM) in various languages. The German version of the UM is labelled:

"HP 50g Grafikfähiger Taschenrechner - Benutzerhandbuch", Hewlett-Packard. Edition 1 (2006-04), MPN F2229AA-90009?, HDP1G49AGN2 MWZ, 8-82780-50234-5

Sold separately for ca. 25-40 EUR (and no longer available), there also was a printed user guide (UG) with about 1000 pages. I don't know if this book was available in other languages as well, but the German version was labelled:

"HP 50g Grafikfähiger Taschenrechner - Erweiterte Anleitung", Hewlett-Packard. Edition 1 (2006-04), MPN F2229AA-90009?
(Strangely enough it carries the same part number as the other manual.)

A printed version of the 50g's Advanced User's Reference Manual (AUR) wasn't available, however.

Greetings,

Matthias


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09-26-2015, 10:07 PM
Post: #8
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 01:36 PM)striegel Wrote:  G8X92AA HP Prime v2 Graphing Calculator
NW280AA HP Prime Graphing Calculator

(BTW, what is the difference between Prime and Prime v2?)
NW280AA is hardware revision as A as of 2013, whereas G8X92AA is hardware revision as C as of 2014. A revision B might have existed as well, but wasn't mass produced.

NW280AA does not support USB-OTG unit-to-unit communication, data streaming (via HP StreamSmart 410 (NW278AA)) or wireless connectivity (via HP Prime Wireless Kit (FOK65AA)).

Greetings,

Matthias


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09-26-2015, 10:49 PM
Post: #9
RE: Printed users guides from HP
(09-26-2015 04:49 PM)Dieter Wrote:  BTW, at least the German version of the 35s manual (that's what I got) has some hilarious translation errors. I strongly suggest that HP have their manuals proof read by a native speaker who knows both the language and the math stuff. So that "log" is no longer translated as "Eintrag". #-)
This holds true for the Prime translation as well... The message of the menu selection to switch the entry mode "Entry" was erroneously translated as "Eintrag" (note, registration, log) instead of "Eingabe" (input). The correct German translation of RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) is UPN (Umgekehrt Polnische Notation), but hasn't been translated at all. They also messed up the German translation of "Radians" as "Radian" (a term that does not exist in the German language), while the correct term would have been "Bogenmaß". (The translation of "Degree" as "Grad" is correct, but is easy to confuse with the "GRAD" symbol on many (other) calculators, which actually stands for "Gon"/"Neugrad" (gradians, grade) rather than "Grad", this is why "°Grad" might be a more intuitive translation.)

Greetings,

Matthias


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09-27-2015, 12:45 PM
Post: #10
RE: Printed users guides from HP
My mistake! I should have said, in the US, the 50g never included hard copies of the useful User Guide or the AUR, but it did include a very short (~30 pages) "Introduction-to" type manual.

Also, my comments on the 35S were also with respect to the US market.

Regarding all these models, although it sure would be nice to have such a multi-hundred page manual (or 2) included, this would have had a significant impact on both the product cost and packaging, both prohibitive in US sales channels.

Overall, I prefer the decision HP made, that is, to develop and produce large, useful manuals and make them available via PDF (btw included on the CD which did come with the 50g and Prime, and I believe later 35S machines), rather than to provide only a smaller, less useful manual which does fit in the package.

Do any similar calculators from other manufacturers include a printed manual?

--Bob Prosperi
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