HP Forum Archive 05

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Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #1 Posted by Dan M (New England, USA) on 12 Feb 2001, 7:11 p.m. hp.com shows the 32sii (recently discussed in this Forum as a decent RPN calc) as "out of stock." What does this _really_ mean? What with all the discussion, and with the sad end of HP-Calcs-with-RPN seemingly ever nearer, I decided to get a 32sii for knock-about, every-day use. During this process, I made some interesting observations, including: 1. hp.com shows the 32sii as "out of stock." The 30s is available for purchase, i didn't check any others. 2. you can still order the 32sii through staples.com, but you can't buy it at a staples store near here. I don't know if it will come through, but they have "1 to 4" business days to complete the contract. 3. Staples.com lists the 32sii over MSRP ($63.99 vs. $59.99) but has the 30s under MSRP ($14.98 vs. $15.95) 4. The 30s looks like it could have been a nice calculator if it had been bothered to be designed to use RPN. 5. This (32sii calc) cost more than some of my 41's (C/CV), so why don't I use them for every-day knock-about use? 6. How much cumulative radiation my 42S has taken in by being in carry-on baggage going through many, many airport x-ray machines. It still works fine. 7. ebay has many 32sii's available. bleah. 8. The staples real stores near here still have HP10B's in the teal/green version on the shelf. 9. The staples "electronics lead" person at the closest store to me does not know of any rumors involving either HP's departure from or dedication to the calculator market. He has noticed that they (staples) only carry a couple of HP calcs but have a bewildering variety of TI products available. There's probably more, but it's been an interesting and slightly expensive proposition. Totally off-topic, but also slightly expensive... I bought a copy of both Dr. Gilberto Urroz' books for the 49G, and picked up that calc to try and use it again. OK, so he explains how to use it (something the "users guide" never did), but he can't make the thing any smaller, and it is big. After using the 45-41-42 as my calculators of choice for so many years, it's tough to justify the size of the 49G for the types of numbers I now have to crunch. It would have gotten tossed out of the carry-on bag long ago for size alone (never mind it's real or perceived faults) where the 42S hung in there for years. I'll still try to use the thing, but I'll be danged if I can find an equation I need to integrate or graph in my current everyday life. I might be able to find a Fourier that I ought to Transform if I look REAL hard, but unless Cauchy or Euler will come over and shovel snow out of my driveway, I don't think I'll ever see them again. Happy calculating, (and rumor-mongering) Dan

Re: Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #2 Posted by Peter on 12 Feb 2001, 10:00 p.m., in response to message #1 by Dan M (New England, USA) Well, I work a small college electronics store that has been selling HPs since the 35 (by the way, we have a least one 32SII in stock for $52.95, if you want it, let me know). I would tend to think that if anything were to happen at HP, we'd know about it, since we're one of their oldest (and at one point, largest) retailers. As I was checking in a box of 17BIIs this afternoon I got to thinking: even though they don't seem to sell a whole lot of scientific/graphing calculators anymore (we might sell one every other week, if we're lucky), we go through dozens of financial calculators in that same time period. I really doubt they would completely close up the calculator shop, since the financial calculators have been hard to keep on the shelves, so I find it hard to believe they'd just give up the scientific line (maybe scale it back a bit). There is a small but dedicated need for them. Anyway, my $0.02.

Re: Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #3 Posted by Chris Randle (Old England, UK) on 13 Feb 2001, 3:05 p.m., in response to message #1 by Dan M (New England, USA) Dan, I keep toying with the idea of buying a "usable" RPN HP. I have a 48SX, but it's overkill for my needs and bit too big. I think the 42S looks about right. Why do you want a 32SII if you've got a 42? Is it because the 42 is quite valuable nowadays? Chris

Re: Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #4 Posted by Dan M (New England, USA) on 13 Feb 2001, 9:48 p.m., in response to message #3 by Chris Randle (Old England, UK) I love the HP-42S, but yes, it's getting a little too valuable. I would not enjoy paying the replacement cost if it got lost or damaged, so I'll use it at the home office and take another one on the road. Also, I probably just needed an excuse to get another calculator :-0

Re: Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #5 Posted by D. Banks on 14 Feb 2001, 11:49 p.m., in response to message #4 by Dan M (New England, USA) I cannot understand why they quit making the 42S. It is, in my opinion, the best all-around calculator they've ever produced. I have mine, right here next to me on my desk. It looks like it's been drop-kicked at least once, it's got a couple of food spills on it, and it's still the first thing I look for if I have to do some cypherin'. (Unless it involves 64-bit binary arithmetic, in which case, the 16C is still handy.) Every once in a while, I think about how bad it would be if my 42S ever crapped out, which seems highly likely given the way I treat it. I cruise the boards looking for a replacement, and am never surprised to see them going for more now than what they cost new.

Re: Information... OR... Rumor-mongering??? Message #6 Posted by Paul Brogger on 15 Feb 2001, 12:58 p.m., in response to message #1 by Dan M (New England, USA) You might check into a 32S rather than an Sii -- the keyboard is SO much cleaner! The only drawbacks (that I know of) are slightly smaller digits, and no "fractions" features. There are generally a couple available on eBay at any time, and, for my money, it's a MUCH nicer machine. Also, you should consider buying a 17Bii for spare parts to keep that 42S running. I believe (though you'll want to verify) that the display is the same, and the internal keyboard parts of any Pioneer may be used to extend the life of a 42S. My 42S' display was o.k., but the case was shot, so I've got a 14B case with 42S guts -- the keyboard face is spray-painted black, and a flip-out, laminated color-print image (the MoHPC's 42S picture -- thanks, Dave!) gives me the keyboard legend indirectly. Not ideal, but it works!

Anti-Rumor Mongering Message #7 Posted by Dan M on 15 Feb 2001, 10:14 p.m., in response to message #1 by Dan M (New England, USA) OK, So now I have it from a reputable source that HP will concentrate on more traditional calculators. Read for yourself at... http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-4820908.html Where Dan Feeney, HP's product marketing manger is quoted as saying, among other things: --------- >For now, Feeney said the company will concentrate on developing more traditional calculators and on making sure there is more niche software, such as the calculator program, available for Pocket PC-based handhelds. --------- OK, so on to the future. On the other hand, my new 32sii arrived today, and I have to report that it seems to be a very nice little calculator. We could debate about the color scheme and the busy keyboard, but I was able to pick it up, perform mathematical functions on numbers, and write simple programs without opening the manual (which was included). How refreshing! What's the story on the "new" color scheme anyway? I don't have any particular bias against it, and the contrast seems OK to me, but why change??? OK, so on to the future, I'm still waiting for those more traditional calculators, or even a nice HP calculator program for my Palm Pilot. Happy rumor-mongering, and don't bother messing with my carry-on bag, there's just a crappy little 32sii in it for a calculator :^)

Re: Anti-Rumor Mongering Message #8 Posted by Wayne Brown on 16 Feb 2001, 6:49 a.m., in response to message #7 by Dan M I just hope that "developing more traditional calculators" means "building calcs like we used to make," not "making the same algebraic junk everybody else makes."

Re: Anti-Rumor Mongering Message #9 Posted by Raymond Hellstern on 16 Mar 2001, 7:56 p.m., in response to message #8 by Wayne Brown >Developing more traditional calculators > I would hope that it means they would be making something like the 11C, which is very handy. Or, as an alternative, a 42SII with a slightly better-to-read display;-) Raymond

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