Hello all,
After my previous and rather frustrated posting, one of the HP support staff who is a follower of this forum contacted me after reading my rant, to assure me that the warranty issue will be resolved.
Unfortunately I am unable to determine if this will be the case for the European users, but HP is standing behind their product in Canada. There appears to be some confusion on the support side about the product internally, and this is apparent.
However, Paul L. with HP support in Canada phoned and emailed me to assure me that I will receive a new HP calculator once they are received (out of backorder).
So, thanks to HP, thanks especially to Paul, and to the generousity of the users here who allowed me to vent and offered alternatives. It's great to be a (lurking) part of a community (and a company) that offers so much.
Thanks again, Paul!