Re: 33C <clear button> repair Message #3 Posted by DG on 24 Sept 2003, 5:21 p.m., in response to message #2 by Jeff
Hey Jeff,
Thanks alot for your response. The methods for opening the 33C are especially helpful. I've had that unit for over 23 years, hate to kill the old dog needlessly. I have to admit the tightness of the attachment is a little daunting.
I guess the button contact design will reveal itself once opened. I'll have to do a search on the archives for button/contact repair. If it is the plastic bubble type, I assumed that the lost contact was due to a 'stretched" out bubble dome, and then not likely repairable. However, this is a great site, a lot of expertise here, so I am sure someone has devised a solution or have some useful ideas.
I was surprised to learn from this site three things; 1) that all these old HP calculators have such a strong following and retain an "antique" value; 2) that people still use their old HP's everyday and I am not the only one; and 3) that HP has fallen so far behind or forgotten about the hand held computer market.
I was going to buy a new scientific HP calculator at my local "Staples" store, but the unit did not even have RPN! I checked the HP website and found they only have around 2 scientific models to choose from. I guess I have not stayed tuned to the calculator market for quite a few years, since I've alway been using my 33C, but I just assumed that with the advancment of digital electronics over the last 23 YEARS, that HP would have had made a quantum leap by now in this market. Must not be a market with a huge return on investment, but you would have thought that just for the purpose of SELF RESPECT as a company, HP would have thrown a few $ at maintaining their lead in the hand held market, if only as a marketing tool for the rest of their computer electronics line, ..or even if it was just for nostalgia purposes.
Darryl
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