Re: How to identify the 'new' HP-12C Message #7 Posted by Jeff Kearns on 1 Apr 2011, 2:26 p.m., in response to message #6 by svisvanatha
I finally returned to Bureau en Gros and confirmed the 'new battery door' model and purchased one. Then I decided to return it the next day after examining it and trying it out. As an owner of several 1980's era Voyagers, including a 12C, I am appalled at the Made in China low quality feel and construction of this new 12C calculator and its slip case. There is no printed user's manual, the keys don't have an acceptable feel to them, the case is too small and poorly sewn together, the dimensions are also a little different (more than one mm longer that the originals, although I did not precisely measure it), and the foot pads are too thick. Perhaps a valiant attempt to reproduce the look of a 12C, but it falls short of my expectations of a HP calculator.
I could not justify the $144 price tag for this unit just to have a processor 150 X as fast as the original. I can wait the extra couple of seconds for the types of calculations I need to perform. Verdict: not worth more than $20 IMHO.
Admittedly, I am a little biased: if a similar quality 15C that was 150 times as fast as the original were available at Staples today, I would likely buy one and not return it... Bring back the HP 15C.
Jeff Kearns
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