But auction was ended early ...

Am I missing something about the auction? What makes it interesting?? I don't see anything special about the description or the opening bid price.

Namir

Edited: 10 Oct 2006, 9:52 p.m.

The TI case perhaps?

- Pauli

Aha... like Namir I was having trouble figuring out what exactly was so interesting.

So very interesting indeed. =)

The case in this auction looks like the one I have for the Texas Instruments SR-11, my very first calculator. I received it as a birthday present from my parents in 1975. I no longer have the original calculator (I took it apart when it quit working around 1977), but I did purchase another one last year for sentimental reasons and that's what the case looks like.

-Greg

Yeah Michael, I was keeping an eye on it too but... probably someone got it with a direct offer to the seller.

Shame on our fellows though! Beauty is in the eye of the beHOLdEr. ;-)
Greetings,
Massimo

I never saw the images associated with the auction. I will take others' word for it.

Namir

The calculator is an HP35 "red dot". It is very rare and it contains all the original bugs that came with the first generation hp35. That is what is interesting about the auction...

Are you the owner of that machine? The auction text does not mention the "red dot" feature.

Namir

Did y'all see National Treasure? Remember the part where the young guy reminded the others about the origins of daylight savings time? That's me, now. I am the least of all collectors in this community, and I knew right away what was interesting. If it was an interesting 35, my first thought was of a red dot... So this is what y'all feel like all the time, huh? :^)

What I also found interesting though, is the wear in the area of the on/off switch. I wonder if someone (not the obviously unknowing seller) manufactured a red dot from a non-dot. I realize the on/off switch naturally gets a lot of wear - This one just looks a little excessive. I would have taken a low$ chance on it, myself; but is there another way to know for sure?

Other opinions on the amount of wear?

The wear does not look that unusual to me, but that may just indicate that I am easily fooled. However, if you were going to fabricate a red-dot by drilling the hole, it seems like the last thing you'd want to do would be to draw attention to the area by adding fake wear. The unit does have the serial number label in the correct place between the two lower feet. According to A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers by W. A. C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, the serial number label was moved into the battery compartment when the first version 2 (non-red-dot) units were produced. The format of the serial number itself also looks authentic, i.e. the 5 numbers after the printed "1143A" appear to be stamped on in figures about 1 mm high, and the first number looks like a 0. The back label with the instructions appears undamaged, but I do not believe that it is the label that originally came on the unit. As near as I have been able to determine, the original back label on red-dot units (and on at least some version 2 units, mine included) say "HP-35 INSTRUCTIONS" on top, not “HEWLETT*PACKARD HP-35 INSTRUCTIONS”, and

MADE IN USA    PATENT PENDING   3.75 V   500 MW

Maybe it was Coburlin who asked the seller, as he usually does, "how much for a buy-it-now price" and he sold it to him for $50 !

Bad joke, sorry ..

Edited: 12 Oct 2006, 6:48 a.m.