HP Forums

Hi, I've been collecting HP calcs for the last 20 years,
and besides the calcs themselves, I always sought for,
and obtained, marketing items for them, such as brochures,
leaflets, catalogs, adds, anything.

Some of them were quite ellaborate in those past, golden
days, such as some wonderfully detailed, many-pages
HP-65 brochures, and also those for financial models
such as the HP-92, which were full of very good examples,
and very good advice on the important features, etc. Some were
even educational, as the one titled "ENTER versus =",
which, by the way, was the very first HP marketing device
I was exposed to, and after reading it carefully and
trying (by hand) the examples, it actually sold me the
concept for life.

The question is, I think that not only HP classical
calculators were extremely high quality devices, but their
marketing brochures, leaflets, etc, were also of the
highest caliber and highly convincing for any technical
user (engineer, chemist, etc) who got to read them.

However, though there seems to be a sizable number of HP
collectors, and you can see lots of adds asking for and
offering HP items (say, in eBay, in MoHP, etc.), I don't
recall ever seeing people asking for a particular brochure,
o selling one, or mentioning the fact that they do collect
them. I don't recall either ever seeing a Web site or
page with pics of those brochures, save a few here (MoHP),
or their contents scanned.

Why is this ? Am I the only one who has a respectable
collection of such brochures ? Aren't they rare, and
sought for ? It amazes me that no one seems to collect
these wonderful pieces of the best marketing there was. They are amazing to see and amazing to read, and after
reading one of them you're really itching to get the
feature machine in your hands, try for yourself the
neat examples, and experience the quality the brochure
has so convincingly sold to you.

If any of you knows about some web site where such items
are discussed, catalogued, and/or pictured, please post
the URLs. Also, though I don't intend to offer for sale
any of them, I wonder if such items do have prices as well,
or they're not marketed at all, not even among collectors.

I agree 500%!! When I first got into HP calculators, I remember looking forward to receiving the HP brochures. I would read them front to back, over & over again. Of course, mainly I was dreaming of when I could (if ever) afford to purchase some of these amazing calculators.

They had a lot of very useful information in them. They were obviously written by professionals for professionals.

I only wish I had kept them.

Hi;

I have a few (just a few) brochures my own, some in Portuguese, others in English. In fact, most of them are folders. I also have some of those brief catalogs that came with the calculators. All material I could save since the 80's is still with me.

I scanned some of them (the ones I believe were created in Brazil) and sent to Dave; I know they will be listed in the 7th. MoHP CD (or in its first DVD-ROM). I also have a couple of magazines announcing the HP41C/CV and their peripherals.

The saddest experience I have is related to 1987/88, when I asked for information about the HP16C from USA HP. The answer was a brief letter (I don't remember who wrote it) where the writer mentioned: "I include a brochure about the HP16C so you can get acquainted to its features."

There was no brochure included in that letter.

If guys people in here are interested on this subject, I can scan whatever I have and send to a data bank to store these images, so anyone can get access to them. I would love having the originals, but being able to read them is also a treasure.

Best regards.

The marketing and advertising brochures seem to be widely collected. When they show up on Ebay, they always have lots of strong bids.

Funny you should bring this up today. At breakfast this morning, I looked over three HP Personnal Computer Digests from 1977,78, and 81 (being very careful not to get my greasy fingerprints on them.) I found these in a an old file I started back in about '76 when I was thinking of buying calculators for work. The file is about an inch thick, and contains HP, TI, Sharp, and Rockwell brochures, and an old Elek-Tek (Chicago) catalog. I have no plans to sell them at present, but would be happy to scan specific pieces for use by the Museum. I could also look up info people might be after.

Yes, the brochures were first class, very complete, with beautiful pictures and descriptions.

Ciao.

I have a small collection and file any one I get by the HP Part Number, such as:

STATUS: FILED

PART NUMBER TYPE: HP

PART NUMBERR: 5952-6077D

DOCUMENT TITLE: THE NEW HP-97 FULLY-PROGRAMMABLE PRINTING CALCULATOR FROM HEWLETT-PACKARD.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

REWVISION: USA 9/76

FORMAT: STAPLED

I have all these listed in an Excel file that I populate with data as time permits. I will put the file up on the web if anyone wants me to.

Although I have always been a big fan of HP calcs, I did not know that the brochures were of interest. I just found this site a couple of months ago.

4 months ago, my wife and I cleaned out our files, some dating back 30 years. I threw out all of those old HP brochures, ads, and catalogs from my college days when I salivated over all things HP. I even had my HP boxes, some folded flat, as well. My wife always laughed at my wrapping all of them in plastic bags and hiding them in the basement/closet/cabinet. Although they were interesting to look at, I was in a clean-out mood, so they went.

...I wonder what landfill they went to anyway ?

You may take a look here: [url:http://www.rgmconsultants.it/tix/ad/bro/brochures.asp ]
it's an italian website with a lot of scannerized brochures, and here there is also a rare HP-9100A brochure: http://www.rgmconsultants.it/tix/ad/bro/hp/9100/9100.htm. I have to thanks Mr. Giorgio Morocutti that gave me this brochure in swap with an Apple II series (he is an Apple fans :-)

I, also, have been actively collecting the older HP calc brochures, maybe even more so than the machines themselves. A few were found on Ebay, but most were not. They are not all that easy to find, as you know. But luckily, I have at least one of every model's brochure including the red dot. The brochures were indeed fascinating, and befitting the machines they represented. happy hunting

Tom wrote:

"A few were found on Ebay, but most were not. They are not all that easy to find, as you know."

No they aren't. Matter of fact, I've never, ever seen
one in eBay.

"The brochures were indeed fascinating, and befitting the machines they represented"

Certainly. What upsets me most is, while there are many
sites on the web where you can find details, pictures,
prizes, catalogs of HP calcs, there's no place I know of
which does the same with those amazing brochures, so there's
no way to simply look at them, know how many different ones
there are, know how much they're worth if at all, or even
trade your spares or duplicates with other people !

I've got a good collection of them, including some that
seem to me specially rare or worthwhile (but no way to
know !), such as these:

"The student's Choice ... The Professionals' Choice ... The Logical Choice." (5953-1916, USA, 6/78)

"Finding your way through the advanced personal calculator maze" (5952-6096F) [does indeed feature a maze, which
you must solve !]

"Hewlett-Packard - The first family of calculators"

"A guide to profitable decision making" (5952-6069)

[this one is a wonderful selection of real-life financial
problems and decisions, tale-like, centered around a
fictitious character, Mr. Robert Cooper ! HP had wonderful
examples those days, and a lot of imagination]

"This man is using the smallest computer ever made ... "

[this is a really wonderful, large, many-page brochure
on the HP-65, a marvel of smart design (the brochure)
and clever marketing ideas. No "student atractors" here,
only first-line professionals were the target.

By the way, though HP's brochures, leaflets and
adds were first rate, they were not alone. I also own
a small collection of Texas Instruments brochures, and
some of them are pretty amazing, too, by their sheer
quality, size, details, and eye appeal. The ones dedicated
to the SR-58 and SR-59 are a marvel, and the extremely
rare one which features the incredible SR-60 desktop
calculator (alphanumeric ! magnetic cards ! 1920 memory
steps ! 100 memories !) has to be seen to be believed.

say it ain't so!

Hi,

>>Tom wrote:
>>
>>"A few were found on Ebay, but most were not.
>>They are not all that easy to find, as you know."
>
>No they aren't. Matter of fact,
>I've never, ever seen one in eBay.
>

it seems you simply missed them;-)

I saw many HP brochures and flyers on eBay during this year.
Some went for astonishing high prices,
others for nearly the minimum price.

I just got hold of some full-colored HP-related
brochures called 'Cursor' (the W&W house magazine),
which weren't made by/for HP directly,
but show and explain the advanced W&W
products for HP calculators,
like the famous 41CY and RAMBox.

Maybe they'll show up on eBay in the near future...

Regards,

Raymond

... right here? (sob!)

Hi;

I sometimes find myself a bit lost about news and existing stuff. Raymond wrote:

>>... like the famous 41CY and RAMBox...>>

What is the HP41CY?

Thanks.

German firm W&W did manufacture a number of those so-called
HP-41CY, which is just a 41CX modified to speed it up, plus
extra modules pre-installed inside, like an internal
RAM-BOX, for example. That made it the most powerful 41
model available, by far.

My therapist says that you have to share your story something like 10 times to cleanse your psyche. So, I'm off on my journey.

I realize it is painful, but I hope to grow through this experience. "I'll never throw anything out again !", I declared. (...Stoney stare from my wife at this point.)

I did find my HP42S manuals safe and sound, still shrinkwrapped, though, and that made me feel a little better. It just goes to show that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Maybe telling my story will help me then. About 3 years ago I was looking for a 29C to replace mine (stolen), and a guy offered me a 19C. I bought it for $100, like new in the box with the manuals and everything. Even the battery was good. But, I was still focused on the 29C and another person found out I had the 19C. He kept emailing me about it until I agreed to sell it for the same $100 I had just paid. I immediately regretted it!

There - now maybe the nightmares will stop. Maybe.

Yes, the CY is based on a CX,
with *64K* RAM Box inside, and a speed up switch.
Some models have the X-Memory modules built-in, too.

You can programmatically switch between the two 32K 'banks',
no need to pull a switch.
This way you can write really BIG programs;-)

You can even replace the CY's internal RAM Box OS
by the MBK ProfiSetII Operating System,
which is ways more user friendly (IMHO).

Raymond

Raymond wrote:

<<Yes, the CY is based on a CX, with *64K* RAM Box inside, and a speed up switch. Some models have the X-Memory modules built-in, too.

You can programmatically switch between the two 32K 'banks', no need to pull a switch. This way you can write really BIG programs;-)

You can even replace the CY's internal RAM Box OS by the MBK ProfiSetII Operating System, which is ways more user friendly (IMHO).>>

Hmmm...I might have a few of these, though I didn't know it.
Several years ago I bought a bunch of what I thought were CX's, but I later found they were speeded up via a small pushbutton in the ac adapter port. Now i'm thinking they may be CY's. How would I access the extra features if they are?

Steve

Hi,

if they have the extra RAM boxes installed they're CY Turbo's,
else they're 'just' Turbos.
For bank switching there are commandos like PG01 and PG10,
at least if the RAM Box OS is installed;-)

Regards,

Raymond

BTW: If you happen to have a CY for spare,
would you sell one of these to me?

See the thread: HP41 (flash) ROM/RAM/MLDL box survey. I am designing this and would be very much like the HP41CY.

Meindert

Hello Meindert,

yes I know, and I'm really interested in buying at least one
(or as many as I can afford;-) of your phantastic boxes,
preferably in a module housing.

Regards,

Raymond

Dr. Mikey,

Where are you? Oh, the humanity! The pain, the pain! Well, pass me a beer at least. Better make it two.

begone painful memories, begone!

I have an HP brochure for HP-41CV/CX and HP-71B. It simply tells you how you can reap the full potential of these machines. I like the command lists very much. The HP staff not only gave me the brochure but also explained their functionalities in detail. After she told me their prices, I couldn't do anything but said thank you very much to her! :P

Hi, Guys;

being the painfull and bad memories gone away, is there a chance that the existing brochures are scanned and sent to someones' data bank, so we can download them?

I believe Dave's e-room is already filled with a lot of existing valuable stuff, and (maybe not) the DVD-ROM will have enough space for them, but I would like to know if anyone that is regularly visiting the Museum would accept the "job": storing scanned brochures to be downloaded.

I'm still trying to find an e-place for my home page, and if it is wide enough, I'm offering for storing the scanned data. All I want to know is if the guys that already/still have the brochres will scan and disclose them for downloading.

Any comments? Suggestions? Flames and Blames?

Best regards.

Interesting. I've not thought of collecting the brochures, and don't know that I've ever seen very many. Thanks for starting this discussion. I guess now I'll have to start collecting something else:-O

I did notice that The Bull Cabinet (http://members.aol.com/tbcab/private/hewlettpackard.htm) has one for the 45, and I saw a couple in with calcs on eBay, so I guess they are available if you look hard enough.

I wouldn't mind seeing some scans - I tried the site mentioned by Gianmaria above, and got to the direct link, but couldn't find any other brochures on the site - Didn't try too hard though, outta time, gotta collect.

If nobody has this brochure, I'll scan it and send it to Dave via email. I don't want to duplicate the effort. However, you guys have to wait for some time!

It's an awesome brochure. The coolest thing is that it brought the world's best calculator and the world's best handheld computer together. When I read this brochure, I just imagined that I had all the stuff in hand. :P