Pink HP calculator on eBay

[SteveH]

I just spotted this calculator, purporting to be from HP on eBay in the UK.

My initial guess that this was not made by HP but was some sort of promotional giveaway. It is labelled with the HP logo and claims to be only available for HP employees and collectible. Anyone know more of the background?

I would not even give a moment's thought for bidding on this beast.

[Steve Borowsky]

I agree, it looks like it's a promotional give-away. No real connection to HP calculators per se'. I would estimate its value at about what most promotional freebie items are worth: nothing.

[Bruce Bergman]

It has an equals key; it's worthless. ;-)

[Katie Wasserman]

Quote:

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It has an equals key; it's worthless. ;-)

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Which brings up the conundrum of why two of the most collectible HP calculators have equal keys. The HP-01 and the HP-10 are possibly the most sought after and expensive HP collectibles aside from the 35 red-dot and the 9100. I suppose that an RPN-based TI calculator would be infinitely collectible as well for the same reason. I know about the 59 RPN module, but that '=' key is still there :(

Edited: 18 Feb 2007, 7:35 p.m.

[Bruce Bergman]

Well, the -01 from the sheer "coolness" of owning it. :-)

I think most of the demand, though, is from rarity. I doubt the seller's comments about this pinky being rare are true -- they probably gave out thousands and most folks tossed them. The most in-demand calcs are the ones hardest to find (the -19C, -80, etc).

Hey, I've been trying to get an 8s for quite a while -- not because it's powerful or anything, but because it's hard to get. It took me almost six months to find a way to get a 40gs in the states, but I finally got that one done...

thanks,
bruce

[Steve Borowsky]

The HP-01s value as a collectible is also enhanced because it falls into more than one category of collectible: 'calculator', 'LED watch', and 'Classic watch(jewelry)'.