HP 15c re-release, Anyone still using calculators 19

[Celt83]

For those looking for an updated RPN calculator there is a new version of the HP 15c that was released recently that looks to fix some bugs and significantly increase computation speed.
Link

Anyone still using handheld calculators beyond just punching in numbers these days?

I went on a bit of a “calculator” history detour a year or so back that had me using a slide rule for a bit, fascinating tools, and then transitioned to a keystroke programmable HP 11c and decided to treat myself recently and purchased one of the Swissmicros DM42.

 

[271828]

I use my HP-32s every day. The keyboard is perfect IMO and the font is large enough to easily see with 50-some year old eyes. I also keep an HP-48G on my desk for a few specific applications. Its font is too small for me now, though.

This might be their last chance at producing a calculator with a good keyboard. I bought two HP-35s between about 2007 and 2015. Both started out fine but started missing keystrokes. I also bought an HP-50g in about 2007. The keys were way too stiff and the enter button is small and in the wrong place. Same with an HP-33. Sold those. I've heard some HP-49g have keyboard issues also. Perfect keys is HP Calculators 101.

 

[KootK]

I use the HP15C app on my phone for most of my calculation needs. Screen shots below. I highly recommend it. I especially like that it's super basic in portrait mode and then all sciencey when your rotate to Landscape. And it's official HP issue which appeals to me. I might have to pick up a physical 15C for good measure now that I've gotten addicted to the app.

As far as physical calculators go:

1) I'm an HP48/49/50 guy going back to the 90's. I have two of each. The emulators for these are just "too much" for phone use in my opinion. I think that the HP15C is just right. My HP48's all seem to die by way of the commonly used buttons going soft. Unfortunately, NOS replacement costs are out there so I'll no longer be attempting replacements.

2) The new, physical HP Prime calculator is also "too much" for me. More a congested, touch screen computer than an elegant calculator.

3) I've got a couple of the 32S models that I picked up for NCEES exams. Those feel great in the hand.

All of my programming is now off calculator with one major exception. I had a setup going my my HP48's that I can only describe as a construction calculator on steroids. It allowed me to use units seamlessly and to use a 6" plastic, metric ruler to scale anything and draw anything to scale. This isn't something that I've been able to replicate well on any other calculator.

I can do it in Excel / MathCAD of course but that winds up being functionally awful. I don't want to have to turn and look at my computer every time I want to measure something or draw a line to scale. Moreover, when I'm working in this mode, it's usually because I want to be away from my computer for a spell. Naturally, bluebeam etc will eventually put an end to this and I'll be tethered to my computer monitor ever more.

 

[KootK]

I really, really, really liked the four level stack on the HP48's. It plays well with RPN thought processes. If they made a 32S or a 32C with a four level stack, I feel that would pretty much be the sweet spot for number crunching going forward, either on a phone app or the real thing.

The HP15C app can be set to vibrate and/or beep when a key is pressed and, in that way, kind of emulate the tactile feedback that the HP keys used to provide. No doubt many of the emulators do similar things.

 

[Aesur]

I am still looking for a HP-35 replacement

I lucked out and stumbled across one for sale on Amazon as they were discontinued, so now I have a backup, but eventually I'm sure it will need to be replaced, so if you find a good one, please share.

 

[Celt83]

Koot the DM42 is a 4 level plus alpha or last x your choice: (uses free42 as a basis). It also has a Big Stack mode which acts like the RPL of the 48/49/50 series. Added benefit of being able to backup the calculator to your computer as well so you don't lose your programs when you change battery. They put out a DM32 a few months ago as well but if I recall correctly they are still filling out the firmware so it's more like a beta firmware.

 

[KootK]

Koot the DM42 is a 4 level plus alpha or last x your choice: (uses free42 as a basis). It also has a Big Stack mode which acts like the RPL of the 48/49/50 series.

That might be the calculator for me!! Does it have the great button press feel of the HP's? Can you assign programs to that top row of buttons? If so, I could probably even replicate my construction calculator on steroids.

 

[KootK]

Woah... $400 CAD. Oh well, I already have sillier things that cost more.

 

[Celt83]

The button press is more a bit more clicky than my 48 and 11c, on the spectrum it's much closer to the HP's vs TI mushy. The top row acts as the menu selectors vs the original 42 which would reuse the top function row. You could either organize your programs in XEQ menu or create a custom menu yellow->2 and then have immediate access with the top row buttons.

 

[JAE]

My app for the 11C (and many others) can be found here:

http://www.rlmtools.com

 

[Celt83]

Here is an excellent free 15c app for the computer: Link

Link for free42 which also has free apps on android and IOS: Link
There is also a plus42 now which brings along the unit awareness in calculations that the 48 series has and some other features.

 

[271828]

Link for free42...

free42 is my go-to emulator. It's awesome. I like being able to see x and y.

If my HP-32s calculators die before I do, I'm planning to get an HP-42s.

 

[fel3]

Celt83…

My daily driver at work is a DM42, which I bought in 2017. For the 28 years before that it was an HP-42S.

My HP journey started in 1974 with a hand-me-down HP-35 from my father when he upgraded to an HP-45. I bought an HP-55 in 1976 a couple months before I graduated from high school, and thus became the first person (student or teacher) in my high school to have a programmable calculator. I am still waiting for the statue to be erected.

I bought an HP-34C in 1979 (senior year of college), then early in my career I bought an HP-41CV followed by an HP-41CX. I did most of my programming on the HP-41s and the later HP-42S and DM42. I still program, but not nearly as much as I did decades ago. And, I still use some programs that I wrote more than 40 years ago, mostly for civil engineering hydraulics calculations.

I have other HPs that I use once in a while. I keep an HP-48G+ at work and an HP-50g on my desk at home. I also use a DM41X, HP-12C Platinum, and a newly acquired HP-15C Collector's Edition at home. I have about a dozen HPs in a cabinet, sans batteries, that don't get used any more.

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[EdStainless]

Koot, That is not silly. The 6 bikes that I own are silly. But if you ever want to sell just reach out to me.

I use a 15C at my desk, it replaced a 25C that just devoured batteries, but I still have it.
I bought the SM DM15 to travel with. You never know.
The 15C phone app is fine, but it all about the feel of the buttons.
All of my calculators have been HPs.

p.s. I have been known to buy old slide rules also.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[KootK]

Koot, That is not silly. The 6 bikes that I own are silly. But if you ever want to sell just reach out to me.

Thanks, it's good to hear from another engineer with n+1-itis. That bike is, unfortunately, bike #8 for me. And #4 with a quill stem somehow.

Would a 58/59 fit you? I've been toying with selling it because I feel as though my plan to ditch most of the Campy would do a disservice to the bike's heritage.

The bike has an interesting provenance. I believe it to actually be made by either Sabatini or Gino Milani (Pinarello), either as a contract build or some manner of fraud.

I fell in love with the bike because of the thirteen gorgeous, heart shaped lug reinforcement tangs on it, including on the brake bar and the inside of the fork blades at the crown (where they get filthy and no one sees them). And the drillium / millium?? Oh yeah...

I've got a local guy begging to buy it for $50 more than I paid. And Mrs. KootK is pretty excited about that because I didn't do so great on the original purchase. Every time that I pay the bike a visit downstairs with the intent to part with it, however, all I can think is "nope, too f@*%$ing beautiful". Worse come to worse, I may hang it in my office as very expensive wall art just to get it off of Mrs. KootK's radar. I do want to ride it for a couple of seasons first though.

The bike, really, serves a similar purpose in my life as my HP's do. That being to surround myself with beauty whenever possible. And, for me, beauty equals a blend of high functionality and gratuitous craftsmanship. I don't need a calculator that triggers a mini nerd-gasm in my brain with every tactile button push. But I sure do want one. Or six.

 

[BrentG]

My parents bought my twin brother (also an engineer) and I each an HP 48G the summer before we headed off to university. We read the manual and got pretty proficient with them over the next 4+ years. I still have one on my desk in daily use. I'm on my second, and I have two more that I bought off of ebay. They should (hopefully!) last me the rest of my career.
My wife (also an engineer) and I both use the i48 app on our iPhones, mostly for the handy unit conversions.

 

[PEinc]

I still use my TI-30SLR EVERY DAY! I have 2 or 3.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[JMASE]

If you want to go down "memory" lane, check out the HP Calculator Museum:

https://www.hpmuseum.org

As a freshman in 1977, I bought an HP-25C. It was a great design, and it got me through engineering school. Since then, I've owned the 15C and the 41C and currently have a 32S II on my desk. HP was a great company back in the day, and they designed high quality products.

 

[ALK2415]

If someone one looking for post-graduate-level structural programming, Casio 9860 Gii is the answer
i did most of the programming using this type of calculators in organized and fast manner.

 

[XR250]

No one has mentioned that using postfix operations (RPN) makes you more money as there are less keystrokes in the calculations. It adds up - seriously.
It also makes you smarter (my opinion)

https://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv021.cgi?read=235620

 

[EdStainless]

I was going to post a picture of my wife's first calculator but I can't find it now.
Her Dad was in the electronics business (worked with he guys that built the first transistor radios).
So in 1974/5 she had a scientific RPN calculator.
A brand that I have never heard of and it looked like a brick, but it sure worked.

Koot, I can't ride that small of a frame but I have a daughter that might be interested.
She only has 3 bikes right now.
One is a stainless steel custom built (Waterford RIP) single speed.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed