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HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Printable Version

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HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Borja - 08-19-2013

Hello,

I have one of the LE calculators (bought when it was just launched) which I haven't used in a while, Today I needed to use it and, unfortunately, some keys don't register well while others have bouncy contacts.

Does anyone know if it's still possible to obtain a replacement? I didn´t have keyboard problems at first, but it seems it's affected by the same issue.




Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Namir - 08-19-2013

I contacted HP recently about an HP-15C LE that I had bought over a year ago and I discovered that one of its keys was not working properly.I was told that they could not do anything for me since I was beyond the 1 year warranty!!! They would not offer repair or replacement for pay either!!!

:-(

Namir


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Ángel Martin - 08-19-2013

time to check my unit; been in the drawer for 8 months straight untouched... fingers crossed


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Mike Morrow - 08-19-2013

But...wasn't HP's response in accordance with the terms of the warranty?


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Borja - 08-20-2013

Quote:
But...wasn't HP's response in accordance with the terms of the warranty?

Warranty terms, certainly. But not standing behind a one or two years old product by offering a paid repair service?

I guess frogs will develop lush hair well before I even consider purchasing an HP product again.

Edited: 20 Aug 2013, 10:48 a.m. after one or more responses were posted


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Thomas Radtke - 08-20-2013

Quote:
I guess frogs will develop lush hair well I even consider purchasing an HP product again.
That's what I thought after the 35s desaster. Then came the 15C LE and I was sure not much can go wrong. Well, my sample is perfect when it comes to hardware, but you know about the bugs that, allthough possible, never have been corrected. Still, my money also went into one 10BII+ and one 20b.

As many of us, I never learn ;-).


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Michael Kussmaul - 08-20-2013

The quality of the 15C LE is really subpar... I use it almost daily, but a couple of weeks ago it started to "double-register" keys, this is very annoying for a $100+ calculator.

Anyway I should have bought an original 15C at "eBeach" (no, I'm not naming that site ;-)


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Borja - 08-20-2013

Quote:
Well, my sample is perfect when it comes to hardware, but you know about the bugs that, allthough possible, never have been corrected. Still, my money also went into one 10BII+ and one 20b.

As many of us, I never learn ;-).


The thing is: in the past those bugs never got to be corrected, because firmware was embedded in ROM chips. And the reissue is exactly the same, bugs and all, which has the advantage that results will be exactly the same, not new bugs, not unexpected results if you happen to use a program that works around one of the bugs.

What really irks me is the stupidity of the hardwware aspect. Of all the products that HP still sells (I won't dare say "make"), calculators are the only ones that have an "apple-esque" (*) following. And it was well deserved in the past.

So, they take an old model that has developed a legendary reputation. A premium piece of hardware. And they reissue it with a poorly designed keyboard, which is even sillier if you think that keyboards have actually been one of the most outstanding aspects in HP calculators.

Instead of doing that they could have sold t-shirts or plastic models inside a transparent plastic box, or maybe heavier resin models to be used as paper weights. I am sure many of us would have bought one out of nostalgia.

At the end, all of this turns out to be a terribly stupid mistake by HP. Years ago I was convinced that HP was the dominant Unix workstation vendor in engineering outfits in part because many engineers had developed a love relationship with their trusty calculators which no other manufacturer could match.

Now, that same manufacturer sells an alleged premium product which turns out to be a turd, a kind of cheap knock-off of their own premium product!! The Monty Pythons would love the twist.

(*) I'm mentioning Apple because it's the most visibly loved manufacturer. But you can find similar followings around other high quality stuff such as Fluke multimeters, Lecroy oscilloscopes, Lowe HF receivers…


Edited: 20 Aug 2013, 11:00 a.m.


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Namir - 08-20-2013

It's OK to say eBay. No need to dance around the issue.


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Mike Morrow - 08-20-2013

Quote:
Anyway I should have bought an original 15C...

I have two original HP-15C units, and two HP-15 LE units. It was immediately apparent that the HP-15C LE was the best HP RPN calculator for complex number processing since the great HP 42S was discontinued in 1995. The 32Sii, 33S, and 35S are pure garbage for that use. However, the significant bugs in power management, PSE execution, and RAM corruption when the some of the old self-tests are executed add up to a serious set of faults not found in the original HP-15C. The original HP-15C also has a beautiful keyboard feel that is missing on the HP-15C LE.

The only thing that the 15C LE has over the 15C is speed. But few problems that are likely to be attempted on the 15C require much use of that 15C LE speed.

There was speculation two years ago that the auction prices for the original would plunge. But after seeing my 15C LE, I believed such price drops for the original model would be temporary. Money spent on an original would be well spent.




Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - bill platt - 08-20-2013

I agree with you.

The Apple thing made me laugh. I can see apple zombies walking toward the bright lights...

The current generation doesn't see HP at all like we did. What a sad, sad state of affairs. And the worst part, is that the small group at the reinvigorated calculator group really is truly interested in the good stuff, and the old HP way, but I fear they simply can't get the support they need. Making the things in China doesn't help things either...


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Marcel Samek - 08-21-2013

Quote:
The Apple thing made me laugh. I can see apple zombies walking toward the bright lights...

Well, this is completely off topic but whenever someone mentions apple zombies walking towards bright lights, I think of the follow gem from a few years ago:

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Didier Lachieze - 08-21-2013

A revolutionary laptop with no keyboard: it's the iPad ....


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Michael de Estrada - 08-22-2013

Try replacing the batteries. I've had the same key repeating problem with mine and it seemed to get better when I installed fresh batteries. The batteries don't last very long in this calculator, especially if you run a lot of programs on it. The low battery indicator doesn't appear until the batteries are completely dead.


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - rpn fan - 08-24-2013

Since I came on this site, I picked up (all on ebay) three vintage 15c's and two 11c's. I also have one of the 15c LE's - serial number in the 18,000's. I recall that some people claim that HP fixed some of the key issues with their second batch? My keys have no rattle at all.

In my opinion, the best of the vintage calc's key actions are beat by the 15c LE. I have no idea whether it will be able to match the longevity of the vintage keyboard. As a side comment, the LE speed is very noticeable when using simple trig functions.


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Michael de Estrada - 08-24-2013

The problem is not loose keys that rattle, but keys that repeat, and I've experienced this problem on two HP 15C LEs from different manufacturing batches. Neither calculator had this problem initially, but it occurred over time and it didn't seem to be limited to any particular key. What I did notice is that replacement of the batteries seems to have reduced this problem significantly with both calculators.

As to your assertion that the key action on the 15C LE is superior to the original 15C, I have a 15C that I bought new in 1982 and used heavily for 25 years, and the keys still work perfectly and IMO their feel and action is vastly superior to the 15C LE.

Just my two cents.


Re: HP 15C-LE replacement still available? - Borja - 08-26-2013

Quote:
Well, this is completely off topic but whenever someone mentions apple zombies walking towards bright lights, I think of the follow gem from a few years ago:

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop


Of course, someone who buys a product that works as advertised is a zombie flying towards bright lights, while buying a car with square shaped wheels (I can't find a better description for a poor keyboard in an alleged high-end calculator) is a highly intelligent consumer.