Re: HP-12C or HP-17BII Message #6 Posted by bill platt on 21 Feb 2006, 7:32 a.m., in response to message #1 by George Rose
I think the 12c is outdated, and the 12CP is a royally stupid design. The 17bii is much more powerful, has a real backspace key, more built-in functions than the 12c and a general purpose solver--not merely the financial solver. And it is faster. And you can buy the new 17bii+ and get the same basic feature set, though I am not sure it supports the Let and Get functions of the 17bii (these enable you to do much more sophisticated programming in the solver. These features are not listed in the manual, but are in the "advanced functions" handbook of the 19bii--which has the same solver.)
A lot of people will tell you that the 12c is a "standard" in finance. While this may be true, it is by no means a must. I have a friend, from high school (we are now 40) who has her own hedge fund. She held many good positions over the years at Deutche Bank, Credit Suisse, Chase Manhattan etc. She has always preferred a 17bii.
The "programmability" of the 12c is dubious at best. It is not like the 11c or 15c--it is crippled. On the other hand the 17bii has an algebraic solver--very powerful and versatile tool, and for many of those programming tasks that one encounters, this solver is superior.
Edited: 21 Feb 2006, 7:33 a.m.
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