HP Forum Archive 13

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help with 12c serial# Message #1 Posted by hugh on 24 June 2003, 8:03 p.m. ive managed to acquire a 12c and am trying to figure out its generation. looking at the number keys closely, they dont look printed, they look like the old-style made of two colors type. but maybe i can't see. made in singapore #3408S00230 am i right in thinking they got worse after singapore? any help appreciated.

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #2 Posted by Randy Sloyer on 24 June 2003, 9:34 p.m., in response to message #1 by hugh Produced the 8th week of 1994. It should be the better double molded keys; AFAIK, they didn't start with printed keys until production moved to Malaysia.

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #3 Posted by Trent Moseley on 24 June 2003, 11:37 p.m., in response to message #2 by Randy Sloyer Randy, Please explain all about 'double molded keys' vis-a-vis the printed ones on the 12C. So I guess my 1997 Malaysia baby didn't get the good stuff. Also I do notice that compared to my 1982 15C and my 1988 16C the blue lables on the bottom of the keys are hard to discern. tm

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #4 Posted by hugh on 25 June 2003, 8:32 a.m., in response to message #2 by Randy Sloyer thanks for the info! is there a way to decode the serial number?

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #5 Posted by r. d. bärtschiger. on 25 June 2003, 3:22 p.m., in response to message #4 by hugh In general add 60 to the first two digits to get the year of production. The next two digits are the week of productiuon. Not always exact but should be close. rdb.

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #6 Posted by Trent Moseley on 24 June 2003, 11:12 p.m., in response to message #1 by hugh Mine works fine. Bought it new in September '97; serial# MY 72002125. tm

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #7 Posted by Scuba Diver on 25 June 2003, 11:22 a.m., in response to message #6 by Trent Moseley I have a 1994 Singapore 12C and it looks like the keys are painted, not double-molded; the keys aren't shiny, they have the same matte finish as those currently produced in China. Did they use painted keys in the past? B.

Re: help with 12c serial# Message #8 Posted by Mike Sebastian (Texas) on 25 June 2003, 10:39 p.m., in response to message #7 by Scuba Diver Yes, HP has sometimes used painted keys in the past. Actually, they used repainted keys. For whatever reason, HP would paint new legends over the ones double-injection molded into the keys. I've seen it on several different 12Cs and a 16C. On the 16C, it looked like some of the keys had been painted over twice, starting out as 11C or 15C keys, then painted to become 12C keys, and finally painted again to become 16C keys. Check out Variations section, and scroll down to 10C Series Variations: http://www.hpmuseum.org/collect.htm#variations

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