HP-65/67 back label

[Kees Bouw]

Does anyone know if a HP-65 ALWAYS has this label on the back:





I have seen photo's of a HP-65 on eBay, where the label on the back is the one usually seen on a HP-67, titled "Useful Conversion Factors":





The label appears to be undamaged. Could it be an original HP-65 that has not been tampered with and that still has this Useful Conversion Factors label on the back? (The photo's above are from the museum just to show which label I am talking about, they are not from the HP-65 I have seen.)

Edited: 18 Jan 2012, 4:58 a.m.

[Thomas Chrapkiewicz]

The HP65 I purchased in 1975 (and still have) has the 'HP65 label' still intact. I suspect the 'conversion factors' label machines were tampered with.

TomC

[Dale Reed]

Note the "Made in U.S.A." on the bottom line of the HP-65 label and the "Made in Singapore" on the conversion factors label.

If the serial number on the unit in question has an "A" after the first four digits, I would expect a label that says "Made in U.S.A. (the HP-65 label). If the serial number has an "S" after the first four digits, I would expect a label that says "Made in Singapore" (the conversion factors label).

Dale

[Kees Bouw]

Quote:

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Note the "Made in U.S.A." on the bottom line of the HP-65 label and the "Made in Singapore" on the conversion factors label.

If the serial number on the unit in question has an "A" after the first four digits, I would expect a label that says "Made in U.S.A. (the HP-65 label). If the serial number has an "S" after the first four digits, I would expect a label that says "Made in Singapore" (the conversion factors label).

Dale

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The serial number has an S and the label says "Made in Singapore" so that matches. Also, there is no serial number etched between the top two feet as is common for the HP-67 (instead, it is on a label between the bottom two feet, just where it should be), so I must conclude that the bottom is genuine HP-65. The "Useful Conversion Factors" label is very even, no folds or wrinkles of any kind. So if someone replaced the back label they have done an extremely good job. If it has been replaced by a new fake label, then it makes no sense that the wrong label was used. They might as well have put on the "usual" label. It's a mystery.

[John Robinson]

The Useful Conversion Factors label is the HP67 back label. Every 67 I own or have seen has this label. Also, every 65 I own or have seen has the first label.

Cheers,
John

[John Robinson]

Of course the label could be one of Ben Ong's excellent reproductions, but I don't know why you would use a 67 label when Ben makes 65 labels as well.

The other option is that the whole case back has been swapped, but that would require access to the two screws under the label. I think the 65 and 67 case backs are the same.

[Michael de Estrada]

Quote:

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Of course the label could be one of Ben Ong's excellent reproductions, but I don't know why you would use a 67 label when Ben makes 65 labels as well.

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I seriously doubt it. Ben's labels omit the "Made in ..." at the bottom of the label to avoid fraud.

[Kees Bouw]

Quote:

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Ben's labels omit the "Made in ..." at the bottom of the label to avoid fraud.

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The label does have "MADE IN SINGAPORE" on it and as far as I can tell from this photo, is a genuine HP-67 label. Since there is no serial number etched between the feet, it must be a genuine HP-65 backside. At the moment, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the calculator was serviced some years after it was discontinued, and that the service center no longer had any HP-65 back labels. So they put a HP-67 label on it instead.

[John Robinson]

Hmmmm, the labels I have from Ben all have "Made In..." but I did buy them some years ago, so maybe he has changed them now.

Cheers,
John

[Michael de Estrada]

Interesting. You must have bought them more than 3 years ago.