Top three calculators ?

[Dave1947]

The one I reach for first is my HP-15C. I bought it in the mid 80’s to replace the 11C that I wore out. Before that I used my HP-35 that I bought in 1973 and still have. The one I use on the road is the HP-15C app on my iPhone or the 32S-II that I carry around in my backpack. I’m really comfortable with the 15C so it gets all the use.

Other than those I have an HP-21, a 41CV, a 67 and a 71b. These are used mostly to fill my idle time and keep me out of mischief.

[knife31]

Mine was the HP-11C. I'm retired military and it's been with me all over the world. Next would be the HP-41CV then a toss-up between the HP-48GX or the HP-35S depending on the day.
RH

[KF6GPE]

I can't remember if I posted here, but the lineup has changed again.
1. DM-16L. I've been doing a lot of low-level embedded software work, and the computer arithmetic & base conversion functions are priceless. (I don't want to use my vintage HP-16C on my desk.) When I've traveled on business, I've carried the DM-16 in my laptop case.
2. Plus42 on my phone or laptop, because I can't seem to get the hang of int->float conversions on the 16L to do the occasional bit of floating point math I need to do.
3. DM-41L. Around the house.

The DM-41X and DM-42 are safe on the shelf next to my desk. I know I could do the base conversions on either (thanks to the Advantage Pac or the 42's built-in functions) but the DM-16L is faster for me.

And a shoutout to Maple, which I've been increasingly using for various sonification projects for fun. It's not a calculator, but hey, it's fun math.

[Raymond Del Tondo]

Actually at some time a few years ago, an era ended, at least for me.
Therefore my current favourite three HP calculators are not exactly the same as back then.

- HP-41CX
- HP Prime
- HP 30b

A few years ago I never thought that things like the Prime
or 30b would find their way into my home again.

I wrote some posts about the 30b when it was relatively new,
and the points of criticism about the ergonomics are still valid.

But: The 30b is the cheapest RPN capable HP calc with nice keyboard feedback,
and (after some accomodation) nice RPN user interface.
Everything on the 30b is better than on the 20b,
if you ignore the awful silver color of the 30b;-)

From an ergonomic point of view, the HP 32S is much better than the 30b.
But the 30b has a much better display contrast,

I ignored the Prime since my "lifetime" project was the HP 48 GX.
But in late 2022, I aquired a really cheap Prime G1 through eBay.
The Prime hardware and features are what many of us wanted
all those decades ago.

The Prime built-in RPN stack is awful, not worth the effort.
But the PPL allows (with some damn restrictions) to customize the user interface.
And so I did, using the RPN calc from Jacob Wall as base,
my own RPN stack environment, with switchable font sizes.