HP Forum Archive 09

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Fry's, Sacramento. Message #1 Posted by Christof (Davis, CA) on 16 Sept 2002, 1:24 a.m. Fry's in sacramento has 2 HP20S old red box edition, a couple HP17bII old green box (check the boxes for all parts, and they will need new batteris, but they are $70), and several old green box HP-19BII calculators. No 32SII, and all the old production 12C machines are gone (which is really not good, as that's what I went there looking for). Might be the last chance to find the old style- they've got piles of the newer production run stuff in, though. (the 17bii I got is serno ID926xxxxx, but seems to have the proper key feel)

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #2 Posted by Glen Kilpatrick on 16 Sept 2002, 2:08 p.m., in response to message #1 by Christof (Davis, CA) Pardon my ignorance (and if there were an FAQ for 12C's, this would be near the top), and I'm sure this has been covered before.... How does one recognize the new _vs._ the old 12C's please? It seems reasonable that the keytops will be (new) painted on _vs._ (old) double injection molded, but are there any other differences, cosmetic, substantive, whatever? I'd thought that all of the controversy over displays had to do with the 48 & 49 series, and that Voyagers had always had the same style & quality. TIA, gang.

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #3 Posted by Scuba Diver on 16 Sept 2002, 9:59 p.m., in response to message #2 by Glen Kilpatrick Well, from what I can tell, the newer ones use 1 3V battery as opposed to 3 1.5V button cells. The newer ones are made in China and most people agree that they lack the "feel" of the older 12Cs. I've seen a few "New In Box" 12Cs lately; does anyone know, which is older, the box with lots of green, or the one that's gray with yellow and blue sections? BTW, how long have new HPs come in that molded plastic stuff? It's SO bad! I guess we'll have to change NIB to be NINMP (New in Nasty Molded Plastic). B.

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #4 Posted by Christof (Davis, CA) on 16 Sept 2002, 11:58 p.m., in response to message #3 by Scuba Diver The plastic blisters are almost garunteed to be new models- it is easy to tell by the battery compartment or battery in blister pack, of course. for actual cardboard boxes- I'm only familiar with the green one, if you find another color scheme box, it's likely to be even older and quite the steal. (you may even get a discount by opening the box and proving that the batteries are dead!) If anyone happens across one of the LR44 series 12C's holler :)

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #5 Posted by Scuba Diver on 17 Sept 2002, 12:15 p.m., in response to message #4 by Christof (Davis, CA) Well, I'm nowhere near Sacramento (the closest I ever came to visiting was watching Eight is Enough...it took place there, didn't it?) Anyways, I'm off topic once again. Here are a few interesting eBay auctions that you may want to take a look at: Blister packed 12C with 3 1.5V cells (I assumed all blister packed 12Cs were the new ones...you know what they say about assuming! http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2054313036 A NIB 12C in the Green Box: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1381534165&rd=1 A NIB 12C in the box with "yellow and blue" (Is this indeed older than the green ones???) http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1380361606&rd=1 I think that the "yellow and blue" box is older; my green box 19BII came with a manual printed in '94 with the exact same yellow/blue colour scheme (I purchased the 19BII last month at an electronics store here in Toronto...I got them to throw 3 new N cells in and drop the price; you don't find deals like that very often!) B.

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #6 Posted by Christof (Davis, CA) on 18 Sept 2002, 2:43 a.m., in response to message #5 by Scuba Diver I think it is older, the color scheme on my 320LX box is similar, as witrh the 48sx. I wonder if I will be able to find an affordable (HAH!) 32Sii, 42S (HAHAHAH), or perhaps 20S from that era. I confess that in my collecting and using, I just don't much go for non programmables. The 17bii is *barely* usable since you can put solver EQs in, but I honestly think I'd prefer to carry a 20S if I had to pick between the two. But that's off topic- thanks for the links, and I'm goign to keep looking at all the stores.

Re: Fry's, Sacramento. Message #7 Posted by Scoba Diver on 18 Sept 2002, 8:40 a.m., in response to message #6 by Christof (Davis, CA) Christof, I agree with you whole-heartedly! The 17BII IS barely programmable; that's what made it appealing to the Canadian Association of Financial Planners; it was the only HP calculator that they would let you use during the exams. It was either that or a Sharp EL733A....yuck! It's now gathering dust; I'm going to keep it as a backup when I go back to grad school; if the batteries die in my calc, I'll have that one to rely upon...

CostCo, ~Mack Road, Sacramento. Message #8 Posted by Glen Kilpatrick on 18 Sept 2002, 10:36 a.m., in response to message #7 by Scoba Diver Thank y'all for the update / description of newer 12C's _vs._ older. Other than box cosmetics (and the double-injection-molded keys), what I learned is that the new ones run on 1.3_v. batteries, and are (of course) made in China. I'll have to check, see what my recent purchase uses (I'm sure it's from China though). On another note, Christof's Fry's survey reminded me that I'd seen a half a dozen TI-89's at CostCo in southern Sacramento for ~$140. http://education.ti.com/us/product/tech/89/features/comparison.html suggests this is a ~$20 savings (and may suggest you'd want the Voyager 200 instead, if you're going this route). My SWAG guesstimate, based upon helping a friend with his TI a couple years ago, and more recent memories of a little 49G fun, is that the top-end TI's are probably fairly similar to algebraic 49G's, *but*, the latter also has RPN, and it probably integrates disparate functionality better (I have a horror memory of entering the same data twice in order to do stats, and graphing, on the TI, but that was probably my unfamiliarity).

Re:Frys Sacramento Message #9 Posted by chuck on 22 Sept 2002, 9:51 p.m., in response to message #8 by Glen Kilpatrick I just made a 6hour roundtrip trek to burbank on a tip that a lone 32sII display was waiting...it sure was, without manual and sleeve..oh well...it is the old style too! The best part is that the manager sold it to me for.....$29.00!!! ha ha haaaa...THey had a bin with discards, as he put it..i found an old style 20s missing batterycover, and he offered to HEAVILY discount that too. Well, no 42s or anything like that, but the green box Business HPs were there, along with the new 48gx models.

Re:Frys Sacramento Message #10 Posted by Ed on 23 Sept 2002, 8:19 p.m., in response to message #9 by chuck Congratulations on your find! I haven't been able to get any good deals on any scientific HP's lately but I got an HP-12C and an HP-17BII for $29 and $50 Canadian respectively within the last few weeks (no manuals or case). (I'm still kicking myself for not picking up a HP-32SII complete in cardboard box + manuals about 2 years ago for $39.95 Cdn. . . )

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