12CP shortcomings?

[Jim Creybohm]

After much stressing, I finally decided to purchase a 12C platinum. I gotta say that although I didn't initially like the form factor, I have found that I like it, but now have a couple of complaints.

1. The ON-OFF key. To turn the calc. on, press as normal. However to turn it off, although you are supposed to press the yellow function key. However, mine doesn't. All I need to do is to press the ON-OFF button again. Does anyone else's calc. do the same thing?

2. The keys feel solid, but I am wondering if they are getting more and more inconsistent. For example, to turn the the calculator on takes a 2 second press and hold. Once fired up and turned off, if I turn it on again right away, I don't need to press and hold.

So, did I get a special 12, or does every 12CP do this?

One of the things I really like about the 12 is how nicely the RPN and AOS are integrated into the calc. HP really did a good job, and they even kept a double size Enter key!

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

Mine (25th Anniversary Edition) behaves like yours except that it takes much less than 2 seconds to turn on. Half a second or less under the same conditions you describe, I'd say.

If you're used to the old 12C and other Voyagers you might notice the CHS key behaves differently:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv016.cgi?read=96706

Regards,

Gerson.

[Jim Creybohm]

Thank you Gerson, I appreciate your post.

I don't know what to make of the [f] [ON] issue to turn the calc. off. Numerous times I have gone to hit the [f] key, done a fat finger, and ended up turning off the darn calculator!

I also hadn't noticed the CHS issue in your post. I have always entered my negative sign before I hit the [ENTER] key. It is curious though. Any other "undocumented features" that you know of?

Methinks the 12CP may not be such a special 25 Anniversary gift after all.

...*sigh*.....

[Jeff O.]

Quote:

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However to turn it off, although you are supposed to press the yellow function key. However, mine doesn't. All I need to do is to press the ON-OFF button again.

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Even though "OFF" is printed above the key in orange, implying it is a shifted function, it is not necessary to press the shift key. Page 16 of my 12CP manual states:


To begin using your hp 12C platinum, press the ON key*. Pressing ON again turns the calculator off.


The asterisk is explained at the bottom of the page as follows:


* Note that the ON key is lower than the other keys to help prevent its being pressed inadvertently.


The behavior is exactly as it has always been on all voyager calculators. They just never felt the need to put the OFF label above the key before. So yours is exhibiting completely normal behavior in this regard.

Quote:

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For example, to turn the calculator on takes a 2 second press and hold. Once fired up and turned off, if I turn it on again right away, I don't need to press and hold.

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Mine exhibits similar behavior, although I have never timed the required hold time. I guess I had feared that it was some sort of keyboard issue, although I never noted a similar problem with any other keys, ala the 49g+ missing keystroke issue. I’m glad to hear from you and Gerson that it is apparently normal behavior. It seems to only occur with mine after it has been "a while" since it was last turned on. Perhaps the calculator goes into a deeper "sleep" mode after some time to conserve power, which then requires the longer press of the ON key to revive it.

[Ken Shaw]

I would call this a design error.

It's confusing because the Pioneer models require the shift key to turn off the calculator, so printing "OFF" above the key and then having it work like the old Voyagers instead of the Pioneers seems to be either an outright goof, or a planned change that got reversed but then nobody told the guy who was designing the keyboard template. (Hm, maybe they don't work at the next desk anymore...or even on the same continent.) Personally, I prefer the shift-OFF key combination.

[Jeff O.]

I agree, it would have been preferable to actually make it a shifted function. Would dramatically decrease the worry over "inadvertant pressing" of the key.