What a surprise !
I recently purchased a HP-67 in Ebay. The shape of the
calculator was in excellent shape, no scratches,
not opened as if brand-new.
But as I switched it on after inserting new batteries, no
reaction ! Looking closer through the display, I realized,
there is no LED Display inside. For the total weight is also
far less than described ( 11 oz. mentioned in the museum ),
I guess there is no other electronic parts inside the
calculator.
Can it be, that HP offered some dummy calculators for
display only at stores ? Does anybody know about this ?
Peter:
Just the kind of thing one risks, whenever buying via Internet from someone you don't know. Me, I wouldn't buy anything at Ebay.
The "miraculous" HP-67 is, just possibly, an empty shell left after all usable components have been removed for use as spares.
Question: Did the keys work? If they did, then that shell of yours must still have (at least) the keyboard assembly.
In any case, you should fight to get your money back.
-Ernie
Does it have a serial number?
Yes, HP made store display units of some of their calculators. I have a display model HP80. The keyboard circuit board is installed but it has no components. The area on the board where the display modules should be is covered with a piece of tape. The CPU is missing. Strangely the gold pins at the bottom of the keyboard that connect to the CPU board are installed.
Your display unit could be worth more to some collectors than a working unit. Or you might be able to install the guts from a machine with a bad case.
Surprised on the great echo, here some additional infos I found out in the meantime:
The " keys " are working properly.
The serialnumber is: 1710S03418 .
In the meantime I tried to insert a magnetic-card, but what a surprise, even no card-reader-device installed too.
The original label on the backside has no damage, so I guess the device was never opened.
Peter
It is probably more valuable than if it were a real 67. Think about it. All you are missing are the guts. Working guts are a dime a dozen. Your case is perfect and could be used but I think it's worth more like it is.
I remember once hearing of a clear plastic case HP-67 also.
I found a dummy 80 at a former HP worker. This guy was in charge with marketing HP calcs in the 70's. These calcs were at that time so expensive (for dealers to stock them) at that time that HP provided free dummies to be exhibited in window displays. Remember that HP was just beginning their calcs business.
Actually it was a genuine 80 without PCB. I sold it to one of us who put in a PCB inside and the feedback I had was that it now workd perfectly !
So I'm keen on thinking that your calc might also be a dummy material display.