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HP Forum Archive 17

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The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #1 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 24 Mar 2007, 4:15 p.m.

Today I received this HP-15C:

Actually, I had to walk ten miles for it. The post office I have a P. O. Box in is about three miles north from home. I decided to go on foot. When I got there I was told the package I was waiting for had gone to another post office, two miles farther north, because today's Saturday...

The seller, from São Paulo, told me he'd never used the calculator, as he bought it eighteen years ago for collecting purpose only. It really looks like it despite the absence of the original box. The picture I took just doesn't do it justice. It seems my quest for a pristine HP-15C is over... I just hope the equivalent to 225 dollars it cost me has not been too expensive :-)

But what has called my attention is the high serial number: 2905B29505. One of the last ever made?

There's only one thing I don't like: under daylight, viewing from certain angles, it is possible to notice PMT is hiding under the white yx lettering. A more careful observation reveals i, PV and FV in the nearby keys... HP, why have you done this?

Edited: 24 Mar 2007, 4:22 p.m.

      
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #2 Posted by Hal Bitton on 24 Mar 2007, 7:06 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Gerson W. Barbosa

Quote:
There's only one thing I don't like: under daylight, viewing from certain angles, it is possible to notice PMT is hiding under the white yx lettering. A more careful observation reveals i, PV and FV in the nearby keys... HP, why have you done this?

This would mean that those keys were not double shot moulded (at least not with the scientific symbols). Could this be true? I just scrutinized my 15C under sunlight and didn't see any sub markings. Mine is an older serial# (2443A06749 USA). I would be interested to find out about this.
Best regards, Hal
            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #3 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 24 Mar 2007, 8:03 p.m.,
in response to message #2 by Hal Bitton

Quote:
This would mean that those keys were not double shot moulded (at least not with the scientific symbols). Could this be true?

I sincerely hope it is not. A have an older 15C (2740B30986). Until now, I hadn't noticed this unit had also some reused 12C keys. It doesn't look like a simple repainting though. The keys look perfect after all these years, no signs of wear. I don't know what process they used but I think they knew what they were doing.

Quote:
I just scrutinized my 15C under sunlight and didn't see any sub markings. Mine is an older serial# (2443A06749 USA).

My first 15C (2343B75099) don't have any either. Yours surely have the glossy chrome logo too.

Best regards,

Gerson.

      
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #4 Posted by Jeff O. on 24 Mar 2007, 7:07 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Gerson W. Barbosa

Congratulations on a beautiful find. $225 for one in such good condition is quite reasonable.

Quote:
viewing from certain angles, it is possible to notice PMT is hiding under the white yx lettering. A more careful observation reveals i, PV and FV in the nearby keys... HP, why have you done this?
Click here and scroll down to "10C Series Versions"
            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #5 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 24 Mar 2007, 8:22 p.m.,
in response to message #4 by Jeff O.

Quote:
Congratulations on a beautiful find. $225 for one in such good condition is quite reasonable.

Thanks! It was a buy-it-now auction by a zero-feedback seller and had been announced for two days when I bid. He had also an unused 1985 11C still in box and an unused 1989 41CV. The prices were not so attractive though (~$215 and ~$311, respectively).

Thanks for the link!

Gerson.

      
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #6 Posted by Palmer O. Hanson, Jr. on 24 Mar 2007, 10:23 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Gerson W. Barbosa

Quote:
There's only one thing I don't like: under daylight, viewing from certain angles, it is possible to notice PMT is hiding under the white yx lettering. A more careful observation reveals i, PV and FV in the nearby keys... HP, why have you done this?

This is from Mier-Jedrzejowiz's A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers:

"...Some later batches of the HP-15C were made using HP-12C keyboards, with HP-15C key functions painted over some of the HP-12C key functions. This is most obvious on the key labeled yx which shows the legend PMT below it. Some collectors find this amusing and are willing to pay extra for such units."

The emphasis is mine.

            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #7 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 24 Mar 2007, 11:02 p.m.,
in response to message #6 by Palmer O. Hanson, Jr.

Thanks for this quoting from Mier-Jedrzejowiz's A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers. One of these days Antonio Maschio asked how this feature would increase the value of his HP-11C as a collecting piece. This might properly answer his question in case no one did.

But there's still another thing I dislike: the contrast of the display is not so good as in my other Voyagers. Instead of the usual vivid black color the digits have kind of a grayish hue. But I think I can live with that.

Regards,

Gerson.

Edited: 24 Mar 2007, 11:08 p.m.

            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #8 Posted by pierre lallier on 25 Mar 2007, 8:27 a.m.,
in response to message #6 by Palmer O. Hanson, Jr.

My late 16C is like that also. I can't say that it makes the calculator more desirable for me, but I don't think it detracts either. Fortunately, I had read about it before I bought the calculator.

      
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #9 Posted by bill platt on 25 Mar 2007, 11:57 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Gerson W. Barbosa

My 11c also shows the shadows of a 12c.

However I am not convinced that this means they are "painted." It could be that they used 12c keys as plugs for new molds and didn't completely remove the hints of the old during the buffing process?

Has anyone actually confirmed, through destructive analysis, that these sorts of ghosts-0f-12c keys are painted rather than double-shot?

            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #10 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 25 Mar 2007, 1:17 p.m.,
in response to message #9 by bill platt

Quote:
Has anyone actually confirmed, through destructive analysis, that these sorts of ghosts-0f-12c keys are painted rather than double-shot?

I've just made a diagonal cut in the backspace key of a dead 11C (2632B03287). I can see it is double-shot indeed. I had noticed a very faint "C" on the left side of that key. There is also light evidence of PMT on the surface of the yx but I can't find more double-personality keys on this keyboard.

Gerson.

            
Re: The Last of the HP-15Cs ?
Message #11 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 26 Mar 2007, 2:18 a.m.,
in response to message #9 by bill platt

My HP-11C too.

-- Antonio

P.S. SN2848A86686

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