HP Forum Archive 14

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HP 12C Message #1 Posted by German on 23 Sept 2004, 2:27 p.m. Hello, I just bought an HP 12c calculator in excellent condition, however, I realized that it was produced in 1986. I even have 3 manuals for it, printed in 1982 or 1984. Should I hold on to this calculator? I am not sure if anything has changed since 1986. Thanks, G

Re: HP 12C Message #2 Posted by bill platt on 23 Sept 2004, 3:24 p.m., in response to message #1 by German Hi German, The 12c has been made in many places, and has evolved--or in some cases devolved over the years. The "front end" has remained the same, but the details of manufacture have changed. Nevertheless, the USA made units are genereally agreed to be the finest, with Brazilian and Singaporean of equal stature, but others inferiour. In terms of holding on to it, that is the question. There is relatively high demand for the 12c, but it is still in production and most new buyers are unaware of the inferior nature of the new units. Further, there are huge numbers of existing units---both USA made and foreign, and so prices do not move much. What will happen if HP discontinues the 12c? Good question. With the Scientifics, in the past 3 years, every discontinued RPN model, with exception of the 49g, has seen a dramatic increase in value. For the 17bii, which is a much more powerful machine than the 12c IMO, the price has stayed flat with discontinuation. Apparently, business machines are not as interesting to collelctors---or maybe engineers are less cold hearted and tend to be more nostalgic........... At any rate, that's what I know, and what I don't know. Edited: 23 Sept 2004, 3:28 p.m.

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