Just a sly way to start a new thread about first impressions. But seriously, from the online photos, I thought it was brown. After I received it, I still thought it was brown. Then when I put it alongside one of my Pioneers (definitely brown), it looks black. Black would be more consistent with making it look like a "classic" HP.
Which it doesn't, any more than a new Thunderbird "looks like" a classic 50's T-bird. It just "evokes" it. It actually looks more like a Pioneer on steroids, to me. With the slightly curved sides thrown in to make it look more classic. But then there are the sloped-front keys, which are definitly classic and not Pioneer-ish. In any case, it does look good.
As a new poster, I might mention that I started out with TI, and still prefer algebraic (gasp!) for most calculations (if interested, see my Memories post). But on this calculator (and other recent offerings) HP has implemented a form of ALG that is very annoying, requiring EVERYTHING to be infix while in ALG mode. I much prefer the older Pioneer algebraic, which had so-called unary functions postfix. It's almost as if HP engineers said "OK, you algebraic people, we're going to make you PAY for rejecting RPN, by making the ALG mode more complicated, then the RPN afficionados will have even more ammunition!"
Now I will admit that consistency demands that the trig functions and the like be infix [SIN( )], but unit conversions [MILE( )]? What sense does that make? This is not any kind of standard notation that I am aware of, and it is awkward. So, I switch to RPN mode when I do any kind of unit conversions. This is a roundabout way of saying that I like having the ability to switch modes in one calculator.
I have been using it about 2 weeks now. My impressions of its physical appearance and construction were initially very good, and that has not changed. My impressions of function were initially not so good, but the more I use it and the more I learn of its capabilities by reading the manual, the more it grows on me.
All-in-all, I think HP has a winner, and I sure hope sales are good enough to inspire them to produce more calculators in this mold and less in the TI mold.