HP RPN GEEKS - What do we think of this?

[fanaudical]

Anyone ever hear of SwissMicros?

https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42.php

Anybody have one of their units? Worth the price?

I have an HP42s that has just gotten too valuable to take to work anymore. (Maybe I should find another one on ebay...)

I'm using Free42 on my tablet and have Excalibur32 running on my computer. Neither are quite cutting it for me.

I looked at a couple newer HP's and they just don't feel right.

The DM42 looks pretty cool - but is it? Or just a "poser"?

[daepp]

I have 3 or 4 12C's - does that count?

(In truth, I usually just use the 12C app on my phone...)

[jyl]

the forum at hpmuseum.com has some discussions of this

https://www.hpmuseum.org/

[vash]

I need the calculator to convert Swiss franc.....

When my HP48GX breaks, I retire. I actually have one backup.

[RWebb]

I wonder how much my hp-35 is worth?

[masraum]

Wow, crazy. I had a HP 32S2 for many years, but sometime in the last 5-7 years it died. I'm pretty sure it was a Christmas present from a college girlfriend in 1989. I was very bummed that it had died.

On my PC I've got Excalibur v2.0 far many years now and a couple of others.

I'm also using Free 42 on my phone.

The swissmicros stuff looks interesting, but other than for nostalgia's sake, it's easier to just launch an app on the phone that's already in my pocket.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I wonder how much my hp-35 is worth?

According to Amazon, you can get a new one for $50.39 via Prime
https://www.amazon.com/HEWLETT-PACKARD-F2215AA-ABA-Scientific/dp/B000TDRHG8

[RWebb]

that's a 35S

[island911]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

I have an HP42s that has just gotten too valuable to take to work anymore. (Maybe I should find another one on ebay...)...

It's funny, no doubt a tablet or computer cost more, but there is something about these calc's we had in school that keep me as well from taking it to work and leaving it there.

I did go the route of finding a work HP - a 48G. It's not as robust as the earlier 48SX but I don't worry about it going missing. Especially now... young engineers don't care. To them it's like some old stick shift car in an Uber world.

[island911]

HP 35 from Wikipedia



Wow 1972 vintage.

[flatbutt]

I have a 15C, 20S, 35 S and my pocket slide rule with the magnifying slide. I wish I still had my K&E full size slide rule. That was serious nerd chic.

[RWebb]

ok, old story ...

in the late 1970s, I had a 67 with the magnetic card reader and had it programmed with all sorts of equations for my field work, but had to read the cards to load the programs and process the data.

IF it got cold, it would not run the mag cards thru.

You may have heard of skiers and winter campers having to warm up their tiny stoves under their arms or in their crotch to cook.

I had to do that plus warm up the caclulator (or rpn based hand computer) the same way to use it.

[IROC]

My HP-41CV as it sits on my desk this morning. I bought this in the fall of 1982 and have used it continuously ever since.

[fanaudical]

I also have a 41CV. And more slide rules than I can count (along with a bunch of very old drafting equipment - some of it 100+ years old).

Regarding value: My Samsung tablet was $149 at Costco; I see HP-42S' on ebay starting ~$200 and some with all the books and better leather pouch getting ~$600. My 42S cost me $88 in 1990 in college, and I remember having to put that on a credit card because I didn't have the cash...

As of this morning, 199 Swiss Franc = ~$210 US.

[flatbutt]

My very first TI calculator cost $90 and only did basic arithmetic plus square and square root. I don't remember the model number.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by island911

It's funny, no doubt a tablet or computer cost more, but there is something about these calc's we had in school that keep me as well from taking it to work and leaving it there.

I did go the route of finding a work HP - a 48G. It's not as robust as the earlier 48SX but I don't worry about it going missing. Especially now... young engineers don't care. To them it's like some old stick shift car in an Uber world.

Yep. For me, it’s that awesome feel - that positive feedback - you get from the HP buttons.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

My very first TI calculator cost $90 and only did basic arithmetic plus square and square root. I don't remember the model number.

TI 8(x) maybe. I remember driving into LA with the old man in 1973 to pick one up for big $$ for my sister, who was headed to UCSB to study the sciences. And yeah, add, subtract, multiply, divide, raise to a power and square root. That’s IT!

[vash]

true story. evacuating for the wildfires, i grabbed my spare HP calculator. i left firearms behind!!

i bought this thing in 1998 and it got me thru college, and my various engineering exams. i have programs in it that cover most things quickly. i have the Moody charts in it. i dont even remember what the moody charts are for!! water flow, i think.

the best thing about a spare is that i can save my programs. i lose them i just move them over from the other unit.

my work unit is tattered. but still works. i hope to limp it across the finish line with me. i baby it and even had a leather sheath made for it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by daepp

Yep. For me, it’s that awesome feel - that positive feedback - you get from the HP buttons.

I did really love my old 32SII. I was super bummed when it died even though I hadn't used it in years. Using it did have a wonderful feel to the device and buttons. It was nothing like the cheap calcs that you run into the other 99% of the time.

[Geronimo '74]

I have a 32sII, a 35s and the latest hp Prime.
I used to be fluent in rpn but not anymore.