To be, or not to be, with a new HP33?
#1

I stumbled across your forum while trying to decide whether to sell all of my old HP's and buy a new 33. Everyone here is apparently very knowledgeable of HP calculators and I thought I would ask your opinion whether or not I would be making a mistake in doing this and if you had an idea what a fair price would be for them.

I have been working in the land surveying industry for several years and have the following, (all what I would call mint condition) all with cases and manuals plus other stuff listed below.

Hp 20s

Hp41cx (math pac, survey pac, manuals, overlays, boxes)

Hp42s

Hp48Gx (TDS cogo card)

Hp100Lx

Hp32s ii (Teal/purple keys, this has a keyboard blemish and my initials scralled into the back panel, its my workhorse but willing to do away with it too, since it seems people part them out.)

#2

The market has been all over the place lately, but if you mean "mint" when you say it, a 41CX with those modules and all the manuals and boxes would fetch between $300-500 on fleaBay, depending if you sell as a package or sell the modules separately.

I paid $300 (plus hefty taxes and shipping since I am Canadian) for a 42S with manuals, case and box. The calc itself is field grade quality and has name branding, but after a good cleaning it really works well, and i am not afraid to use it like I am my mint 15C. I think I paid too much, but I wanted it when I wanted it, blah blah blah. If your 42S is in good shape and with manual you could fetch around $200-250 I would hope, maybe less in a slow market. The only thing I don't like about the 42S is the somewhat faint display and the fact that fingers are the only way to get a program into it. I do most of my 42S stuff in Free42 on my Palm TX.

I can't comment on your other calculators since I don't know them well, but I do know the 32S is well loved around here.


If by 33 you mean 33S, tread carefully even though it is cheap and ostensibly feature packed. I like the speed and can forgive its crazy busy keyboard, constricted programming abilities (compared with the HP41 and 42), and "cheap" feel, and have been giving it a lot more attention lately. But search the archives around here and take a peek at some recent threads. There are some very strong opinions about the 33S, and few of them are positive unless the support is offered with plenty of qualification.

If I were you, and had to keep just one, I would keep the 42S--it has it all, small size, billions of features, RPN programs yet a lot more memory than the 41 calcs. I think if you sold it you would miss it terribly.

Les

#3

Grant,

My suggestion is to keep the ones you like, because you probably wont get anything you like better. I am also a LS and a CE. If you decide to get rid of these, search e-Bay for a while to get a good idea of the going prices.

Personally I would get rid of the 20S and maybe the 100LX unless you have a TDS card for the LX. You could get a 200LX to replace the 100 if you have a card or environmental case you want to keep. Yes, environmental cases go for a good price also both the 100 and the 48. The 42s will go for a high price if it is in good shape with the manual. The 48GX and card can be sold together or separately. You might want to search e-Bay for "HP Survey*" and look at what they are going for.

If you do try and sell on e-Bay - list with about 4 or 5 really good close up pictures. Let everyone know about the blemishes. My opinion is that if you want to hold a "reserve", then you can start low, but you should disclose what the reserve is in the ad. I get very good prices for what I sell, and I also give a money back guarantee (less shipping). I sold an HP-48GX for over $350, about 6-months ago but it was used for only about 4-hours, and in effect everything was new.

Your mileage may vary.

Edited: 12 Feb 2007, 9:54 p.m.

#4

Buy a new Hp33s first and foremost before you go any further. If you find the calculator acceptable and then think you won't miss your other Hp's, sell them (This is a difficult concept for most of us, but if your motives are simply mercenary, w/o any regards to the equipment itself, easy way to make several hundred $$$ minimum).

As to the Hp20s, I would keep it because it won't bring much, yet is well made and still has Hp quality, but many here HAVE ZERO use for anything other than RPN.

The others will fetch $$$$ no question about it.

Your worst decision would be to just sell everything, buy the Hp33s to then discover it ISN'T good enough for you and have to now buy back the stuff you may discover you now need.

The Hp33s is an okay, low end RPN Hp32sii near clone replacement calculator with a revamped style keyboard with lots of extra RAM. It has an Hp type quality, but notice I say an "Hp type of quality", not Hp quality. Get one and you will realize what I mean.

Hey, its $50, vs older Hp's cost considerably more especially if you factor in inflation. Most of our gripes here are that many of us would pay more for better (and often do, on ebay), but the Hp33s is what is available, new, today retail. At worst, you can resell the Hp33s and be out a mere $20 and still have your nice collection.

#5

Any of your calculator would worth more than the 33. I think the 20S is worth the least of your current calculator but still I think it's worth more than a new 33s.

#6

I took some photos and created a text file describing the blemishes I found after looking them over and posted them on an ftp site linked below.

Ok, so they aren't all as perfect as I initially remembered,("branding" on most except 100lx and 41cx), but the 100lx, 48gx and 41cx are basically brand new with very little use.

The 32s ii, is functionally fine (I use it all day every day) aside from the ding in the lower right corner.

I am thinking of hanging onto the 42s for the shear hours of programming invested.

What do you all think the whole lot is worth? $800? After looking around on Ebay I come up with around $1,100.

Hp Calculators

#7

It is just my feeling - I have no proof - but if you are looking for the most return, you will probably get it by selling them separately.

Just my $0.02.



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