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HP Forum Archive 13

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It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #1 Posted by David Ramsey on 23 June 2003, 1:22 a.m.

Sorry.

But if I read one more eBay description touting those cheap little vinyl slipcovers that come with the 10C-16C calculators as "soft leather cases", I'm going to scream.

That pretty much ensures I'm gonna scream, doesn't it?

Are these people total idiots?

      
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #2 Posted by Fred Lusk on 23 June 2003, 1:31 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

David…

Didn't you know that vinyl is simply the hide of a plastic animal?

Fred

            
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #3 Posted by Les Bell [Sydney] on 23 June 2003, 2:45 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by Fred Lusk

I've often wondered - the plains of North America must have been something to see before the white man came, what with those vast roaming herds of Nauga grazing everywhere.

But once people needed something to cover their calculators, and someone discovered that the dried and tanned skin of the Nauga was ideal, their days were numbered. . . .

Best,

--- Les [http://www.lesbell.com.au]

                  
aint it funny that you used to get a nice case.....
Message #4 Posted by Norm on 23 June 2003, 3:57 a.m.,
in response to message #3 by Les Bell [Sydney]

aint it funny that on the OLDER HP calculators, U got a nice genuinely FURRY case with a ZIPPER on it.

Then came the 32S and U get a plastic vinyl heat-molded piece of flat-material garbage, with no zipper, and I recall quite clearly, it was so sticky and badly dimensioned a fit, U couldn't get the calculator into it anyway.

So those MBA's pretended they were giving U a case, a cheap chinsy case with no fur and no zipper, but really there was no case at all.

If HP wasn't run by Carly-freaks, they'd make big furry-cases that were softer and furrier than ever before, with zipper and an HP Logo proudly displayed. But instead they give us cheap worthless Kinpo garbage in a $9 Wal Mart retail-rack package, without so much as an "Enter" button.

                        
Re: aint it funny that you used to get a nice case.....
Message #5 Posted by Les Bell [Sydney] on 23 June 2003, 4:55 a.m.,
in response to message #4 by Norm

Of course, in the days of the real HP calcs, like the 65, we used to get a real leather wallet for the calculator, with a little pouch for a plastic case of program cards on the front and a belt loop on the back.

When I say real leather, I mean, made from the skin of dead cows, and not dead Naugas, like later cheap stuff such as the . . .oh . . . I dunno . . HP-34C and downmarket stuff like that.

--- Les [http://www.lesbell.com.au]
(Running very, very fast!)

                        
Re: aint it funny that you used to get a nice case.....
Message #6 Posted by Paul Brogger on 23 June 2003, 10:34 a.m.,
in response to message #4 by Norm

The pioneers came with two types of case -- the padded, stitched, faux leather minimalist case is at least usable and useful.

The pure, solid, heat-welded vinyl beast is indeed so tight & sticky as to be utterly useless. It is indeed astounding that a committee of HP's best & brightest (at the time) could offer such a pointless add-on in place of a genuine case.

By the way, I remember in college attaching the middle of a shoestring to the bottom of my HP-21 case, and tying it around my right leg gunslinger-style, to keep the thing from flapping all over as I walked. I thought it a practical solution, but I suppose it was an example of geekus extremus.

                              
Re: aint it funny that you used to get a nice case.....
Message #7 Posted by Dave Shaffer on 23 June 2003, 2:29 p.m.,
in response to message #6 by Paul Brogger

Paul,

Where did you go to school? On some campuses I've visited and/or inhabited (Carnegie Tech, MIT, Caltech), your "gunslinger" solution would have been widely emulated. I also remember the guys with the 20-inch slide rules (and cases) attached to their belts. They looked like leftovers from the Three Musketeers!

                  
Buffalo wings
Message #8 Posted by Patrick on 23 June 2003, 12:39 p.m.,
in response to message #3 by Les Bell [Sydney]

Not to mention Buffalo wings. When I was a kid the skies were black with Buffalo!

      
Re: It's LEATHERETTE, you MORON!
Message #9 Posted by Mark on 23 June 2003, 7:01 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

Us marketing types would not stoop to calling this Leather (because it's not and we could get sued by our lawyer buddies for false advertising) nor would we call it "vinyl" because "vinyl" does not 'sell.' No, it's "Leatherette." Fine, Corinthian Leatherette. (you say the word "Corinthian" with heavily rolled R's.

Speaking of furry cases, I have a Woodstock case that's in perfect condition except it has some goopy stuff on the surface that I can't get off. I think it may be from sitting too long on a shelf that was treated with furniture oil. Anyone have any idea how to clean goop off "leatherette?" Without damaging the fine Corinthian surface details?

      
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #10 Posted by Wayne Brown on 23 June 2003, 7:27 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

These must be the same people who advertise plastic-laminated wood slide rules on eBay as "antique ivory."

      
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #11 Posted by Patrick on 23 June 2003, 12:41 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

The saving grace is that there are just as many buyers who know exactly what the seller is talking about. They'll get vinyl and say "Yep, leatherette, just as advertized."

Don't you just love the way the world all just sort of ... works?

      
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #12 Posted by David Smith on 23 June 2003, 5:28 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

Well, it might just possibly be real genuine leather. HP did make some real leather cases for the 15C series and the woodstocks.

            
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #13 Posted by Trent Moseley on 23 June 2003, 11:32 p.m.,
in response to message #12 by David Smith

No way. I have the original 25C and 67 carrying cases with belt loops. The cases are soft brown plastic on the outside and fur lined inside. Very nice to feel. However they are not made of leather. For some of my Voyagers I bought nice leather cases from EduCalc which have the HP logo.

tm

                  
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #14 Posted by Ellis Easley on 24 June 2003, 3:57 a.m.,
in response to message #13 by Trent Moseley

Those leather Voyager covers, and also "Clamshell" (HP28C/S,HP19B) covers, had HP part numbers in the EduCalc catalog.

                  
Re: It's VINYL, you MORON!
Message #15 Posted by David Smith on 24 June 2003, 5:00 p.m.,
in response to message #13 by Trent Moseley

I have an HP29C that has a genuine leather case. Brown, furry lining, HP logo. Nice leather smell. Definitely not no stinkin' plastic.

      
My HP15C case is in real, black LEATHER
Message #16 Posted by Emmanuel Verbeeck on 24 June 2003, 4:46 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by David Ramsey

I bough it in 1987 in Belgium and I have it in front of me. Its is definitely leather, altough of medium quality. Maybe it was specific to Europe, or Belgium ? By the way, still using the original batteries!

            
Re: My HP15C case is in real, black LEATHER
Message #17 Posted by Yos Feit on 24 June 2003, 11:31 a.m.,
in response to message #16 by Emmanuel Verbeeck

I bought a real leather case for my 15c from Educalc. It has a felt lining and a small HP logo embossed near one of the corners. Educalc also sold similar leather cases for other models.


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