HP Forum Archive 10

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HP-30? Message #1 Posted by Eaglevu on 5 Feb 2003, 3:07 p.m. Just discovered this site. Pretty cool! I had an "HP-30" basic scientific calculator, back in the early 80's. Why is it not listed here? Similar to the -31E, but slightly simpler and with a metalic gold faceplate. I remember being able to push multiple buttons, simultaneously, to get it to power on. Also, very light weight.

Sorry! No such beast! Message #2 Posted by Gene on 5 Feb 2003, 5:55 p.m., in response to message #1 by Eaglevu It's not listed here because it was never made. Sorry, but I'm afraid you have the model # incorrect!

Re: HP-30? - no, it's a TI-30!! Message #3 Posted by Bill Wiese on 5 Feb 2003, 8:33 p.m., in response to message #1 by Eaglevu > had an "HP-30" basic scientific calculator, > back in the early 80's. Why is it not listed > here? Similar to the -31E, but slightly simpler > and with a metalic gold faceplate. I remember > being able to push multiple buttons simultaneously > to get it to power on. Also, very light weight. Sorry, not listed here because it was a TI, not HP, calc. You must be thinking of a TI-30. One of the most common scientific calcs in the world. Gold faceplate for keypad. Power on/off was done from keypad with [ON/C] button. Since the keypad had row/column coding, holding the corner keys [1/x],[EXCH] and [=] keys simultaneously would also trigger [On/C] actuation. They are very light, as you say, because in addition to Klixon-style keyboard, there's only a small PC board with one skinny-DIP chip and an LED bubble-strip display, a resistor, and a 9V battery clip. Also the shell was lighter weight, IIRC, than other calcs with similar form factors from TI (SR-51/SR-52, etc.) They came out in 1977-78, maybe a tad earlier. My dad bought me my TI30 in 1977 from a super Safeway store for $30 as part of a "Student Math Kit" package with a fairly decent text to explain why logs and trig functions were useful. Bill Wiese San Jose, CA

Re: HP-30? - no, it's a TI-30!! Message #4 Posted by hugh on 7 Feb 2003, 6:47 p.m., in response to message #3 by Bill Wiese the ti-30 had a screen saver tho' :-) when left idle, it would run a moving dot across the screen until you press a key. unfortunately, this feature would kick in annoyingly quickly.

Re: HP-30? Message #5 Posted by Frank Glitz on 6 Feb 2003, 4:07 a.m., in response to message #1 by Eaglevu I think it's a TI-30 as well. Look at www.datamath.org for a very good reference on TI calculators. Regards, Frank

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