HP-15c: Why so popular?

[Steve Simpkin]

(11-04-2023 11:16 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  

(11-04-2023 10:08 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  I had forgotten that the TI-58/59 had so much of the HP-15C functionality built-in (with the included "Master Library Module ML-01") when it came out 1977, 5 years prior to the HP-15C.
https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-20...#pid179541

It's a shame the TI-66 didn't retain module support, or at least have the Master Library Module built in. It could have been a viable alternative (I wouldn't go as far as to say competitor) to the 15C or even the 41C to an extent.

Yes, aside from the larger memory and printer port, the TI-66 function set is much closer to the HP-11C than the HP-15C. The TI-66 lacks a solver, numerical integration, matrix operations and complex math. It would have been more of a competitor to the HP-15C if it had included the functionality in the TI-58/59's Master Library Module ML-01.