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It depends upon what you plan to use the calculator for? The Hp12c is the standard for an RPN financial calculator. The Hp17Bii was its replacement upgrade. That the Hp12c WAS NOT discontiued is a testament to how good the Hp12c IS.
However, as a calculator, the Hp17Bii (and the even more feature rich, but discontinue Hp19Bii) has lots more features and can be customized much beyond the Hp12c with its 7K (or 32K for the newest Hp17Bii+) available for its very sophisticated and easy to use solver.
While you do need to wade through menues, you get to the one you want or need and it stays there until you need another menu. It also allows you to operate (or share) your calculator in two different modes, RPN and algebraic.
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The 17bii has a backspace button which in and of itself is worth the upgrade.
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Hi (insect?!?);
I have all three models and a few other financial ones, and so far I saw just two other HP19B users around here (one, in fact, with an HP18C). The HP12C indeed has the fastest way to get to the TVM interface because it has TVM-dedicated keys. It happens the same with all previous HP financial calculators. I have an HP37E and one HP38C, and I have once used an HP22 and one HP27. All of these are predecessors of the HP12C, and they all have TVM-dedicated keys. Some models that came after the HP12C offered the menu option, and also lots more memory and extra resources. I prefer using any HP17B/19B to compute cash flow because they are faster when computing IRR and offer some extra features, like NFV (Net Future Value). Appart of that, the menu-driven softkey-based TVM is a different approach, these models actually do not have TVM-dedicated keys. Anyway, I see no trouble in that, and the extra functionality worth the lack of such dedicated keys.
I'd keep the HP12C (I also have Platinum and Prestige units) and, if possible, would give these new units a try...
My 2ยข.
Luiz (Brazil)
Edited: 13 Oct 2006, 12:40 a.m.