15C LE Wobbly F/G Keys

[DaveJ]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but someone posted this video on my forum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF5-e-ZY1Rw

Dave.

[hpnut]

that is one (no, two) wonky key, totally unacceptable to me. this is not the HP quality that i know.

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Some of you people would complain if you got hung with a new rope.

Sam, Cyrille, Tim and every one involved in the new 15c deserve a medal for finding a way to make this improbable and unprofitable pipe dream into a reality, as does anyone that finds a fixable problem in the firmware.
I bought 3 because i said i would on that online petition and i'm in the bad habit of keeping my word. However: what i'd really like to see and use is that 42 clone-on-the-17b platform that people have been talking about. But that will never happen if all we do is bitch them out for unimportant or correctable flaws in this one.

[hpnut]

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unimportant or correctable flaws in this one.

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Pray tell me how to input data? Does the new calcs come with touch screens?

[Thomas Radtke]

I haven't read any review stating that the shift keys represent a significant problem. I think you *want* to exaggerate here.

[Lincoln R.]

The shift keys work fine. Sure, the pieces of plastic feel a little bit loose, but the actual key action is fine.

[snaggs]

Just waiting for someone to say its for fools and so real engineer could use it.

I mean, you could be building a skyscraper, and at the critical task of ensuring the steel is straight and orthogonal, using your 'f' and 'g' keys as a set square could destroy the project as one of them was a few degrees out.

Daniel

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Some of you people would complain if you got hung with a new rope.

Sam, Cyrille, Tim and every one involved in the new 15c deserve a medal for finding a way to make this improbable and unprofitable pipe dream into a reality, as does anyone that finds a fixable problem in the firmware.
I bought 3 because i said i would on that online petition and i'm in the bad habit of keeping my word. However: what i'd really like to see and use is that 42 clone-on-the-17b platform that people have been talking about. But that will never happen if all we do is bitch them out for unimportant or correctable flaws in this one.

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[Walter B]

Hear, hear here? ;-) Playing the game "what does the author want to tell us with his writing?"?

[snaggs]

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Hear, hear here? ;-) Playing the game "what does the author want to tell us with his writing?"?

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I have a firmware bug and must be put on TAS immediately ;)

Daniel

[Howard Owen]

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I mean, you could be building a skyscraper, and at the critical task of ensuring the steel is straight and orthogonal, using your 'f' and 'g' keys as a set square could destroy the project as one of them was a few degrees out.

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LOL!

A new use for the classic Voyagers, it seems.

[Martin Pinckney]

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that is one (no, two) wonky key, totally unacceptable to me. this is not the HP quality that i know.

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If you read the several posts on this subject over the last day or two, you will find that several have said their original 15c's also have keys that are a little loose.

In any event, this is really a non-problem, IMO. There just isn't that much movement.

[Steve Simpkin]

Here is the thread that discussed loose keys on the LE and past HP-15C production runs.

http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/forum.cgi?read=194818#194818

[M. Joury]

I gave both my original and the new one the good old shake test and there was more rattle from the original--none from 2/3 new ones, the third had a very slight rattle.

Admittedly my original is many years old but it has led a pretty sheltered life. I certainly don't have any complaints about the quality of the LE.

Cheers,

-Marwan

[robert rozee]

the solution to this would have been incredibly easy - make the f and g keys the same colour (brown) as the rest, then print them with a gold/blue block with the f/g in reverse (ie, the brown of the underlying plastic).

this would have the added advantage of providing the LE calculators with a very clear discerning feature to differentiate it from the originals, as well as producing an overall simpler product to assemble.

Edited: 15 Sept 2011, 10:41 a.m.

[Quan]

If this were done, I wonder how long before the paint rubbed off.

[Bart (UK)]

It's that way on the 35s. Also, the white numbering/lettering is printed on anyway, so the numbers are likely to wear off before the function keys (assuming the same "toughness" paint is used).

[Martin Pinckney]

No, I like the solid color keys as implemented. More true to the original.

[Mike Morrow]

Horrible idea! Painted shift keys would definitely have kept me from purchasing the 15C-LE units I have. It looks very cheap, and very ugly. Did I mention cheap?

This "wobbly keys" issue is bullshit. Some could instead find better better use of their time looking for real issues in need of improvement.

As a gamma-tester, :-) I found several substantial but fixable problems (self-tests, memory corruption, PSE bugs) that I documented here last week. Still, I am quite happy with product value after spending five hours using it since Friday.

Is it an original 15C? No. Is it a 42S? Not even close. It is just a very servicable and attractive machine the likes of which HP will doubtless not be eager to waste time on in the future. I could easily have lived without a HP 15C re-issue. The 15C was far from being my favorite HP from 34 years of HP usage, so the 15C-LE won't replace my 42S or 50g.

But I'm damned happy to own two.

[bill platt]

Yuk.

Give me a wobbly key any day, over that.

[Lincoln R.]

We already have a good way to tell them apart from the front: the "Limited Edition" script. If a seller is dishonest enough to photoshop that out, what's to stop them from copy/pasting keys from another picture onto a TAS auction or something?

[Quan]

Despite the small imperfection, I am happy with the new 15c that many have worked hard to bring it back, even in a small production run.

I now have 2 in my hand. No more wishing and hoping that HP would bring it back.

I also like the advantage of the new 15c over the old one: the firmware is upgradable which I would like to see happen soon to correct some of the issues reported here.

Not a problem for me.

[Seth Morabito]

I got my two 15C calculators last night. My first impressions are quite good, actually. The f and g keys are nowhere near that wobbly on the two I received.