Why does 17BII maintain its value?
#1

I am auctioning a HP 17BII I purchased 14 years ago. The bidding is now reaching the original price I paid. OK, Present Value it is worth less at the same $ value.
But,
in this day & age it seem unusual that any digital device is not out-moded and obsolete in far less that a decade. I think I had a 5" floppydrive on my PC at the time and my seperate modem just had reached 1200 baud.

To what does this particular model owe it's longivity?

#2

Well,

1) business calculators have not evolved much in the last 10-15 years. There aren't that many models out there doing that much more than they did back then.

2) the 17bII was one of the old pioneer models and some people today still like the key material and the general build/style of the calculator more than they do the current offerings.

I think a combination of the two explains it.

Gene

#3

The 17bii is worth its price primarily because it is a good device that is not outmoded. Another aspect: it is not a commodity, whereas a hard drive or a modem is. The 17bii is a unique patented finished product with capabilities and qualtiy that simply have not been surpassed. Yes, a computer is more powerful, but it is not compact!

Features that keep the 17bii value going:

1. The equation solving system. A really innovative way to do things. I was floored when I first saw it on a finance friend's calculator a bout 2 years ago. I vowed right then, "I've got to have one of these!"

2. The mechanical design. HP, not TI. That is worth something---perhaps more than any single other aspect, it is the physical nature of the HP that gives them a minimum floor value. Even the 20s manages to collect on this aspect.

3. RPN as well as algebraic.

4. A complete set of business functions in a well organized format.

5. Excellent documentation.

My thoughts.

Regards,

Bill

#4

Because some Hp zealot DIMWIT thinks its worth it!

You can still buy an Hp17BII+ from Hp for $9-, oh, wait a minute, thats what the new Hp is worth, it still costs $99 retail. That old POS of yours was made with out of date, overly costly production methods that have since been replaced with newer, lower cost production methods (and it PROUDLY shows!).

#5

Hi Frank, this is yet another Frank that also happens to have a as-new 17BII at ebay auction right now (small world!) and also sold one last week for only around 60$ including manual as I am having to substantially reduce my collection. Though it is currently about 1/2 the original MSRP, these are certainly quality machines compared to tadays offerings. I'm hoping HP will learn from the recent 49G+ keyboard fiasco, but I guess I should be pleased they are even still in the calculator business as that was uncertain just a couple of years ago and perhaps today as well.
BTW Hello Gene, send me a note sometime I've misplaced your email address!



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