The Museum of HP Calculators

HP Forum Archive 13

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I BOUGHT A 12C - LOOKS LIKES A CRAP
Message #1 Posted by John Smith on 28 June 2003, 9:15 p.m.

I just bought a brand new HP-12C. It is made in China. It looks like a POS. LCD window background looks dark and a damn unbright. When calculator is turn on, LCD display is black for sure, but that damn thing is black on dark background. I'm pissed. I saw another old 12C made in USA. That one has white LCD window background, thus LCD display apprears black and crisp.

Can anyone confirm this whether Chines made batch of 12Cs are same POS like mine?

      
They are a POS
Message #2 Posted by Mike on 28 June 2003, 10:11 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by John Smith

but the display should look like the others. I don't see any problem with the display on my Chinese made 12Cs. Keys are crap though.

            
Not all are PsOS
Message #3 Posted by Patrick on 28 June 2003, 11:26 p.m.,
in response to message #2 by Mike

I bought a new one in March (serial #CN14801298) and it has all the appearances of being a fine machine. I use it routinely and it has performed flawlessly over its short life to date. The screen is clear and easy to read, the keys have a good feel to them, and the device has an overall solid feel to it. I have absolutely no complaints so far.

I will leave it to people like Luiz to weigh in on the qualify of their innards, as I have no independent knowledge in that respect.

                  
Re: Not all are PsOS
Message #4 Posted by Nenad (Croatia) on 29 June 2003, 3:57 a.m.,
in response to message #3 by Patrick

I have the same experience as Patrick. My 12C (#CN 02002514) is a very nice machine and I did not notice any difference in behaviour of the keys compared with the ones of my 11C or the 15C.

      
Re: I bought a 12C - Looks like a crap
Message #5 Posted by Raymond Del Tondo on 29 June 2003, 10:27 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by John Smith

Hi,

I'd go for the older US, Brazil, or Singapore made units. I have an Indonesian unit, which still has three battery cells. The display is a single tone darker than those of the earlier ones.

But the keyboard is really a mess. Not only they 'feel' cheaper, but the quality of the painting of the key legends is very low.

So if you have warranty, try to get your money back, unless you bought it for your collection;-)

Regards,

Raymond

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