new convert?

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Having bought from Datamath, i'm on Joerg's mailing list. Here's two quotes from this weeks ebay advertisement:

referring to the Corvus 500: "perfect. RPN!"

and "Hewlett Packard HP-11C - Still the best!"

Has Mr. T.I. finally been won over?

[Mike Morrow]

Not if he classifies the HP-11C as "the best"! I'm not aware of any quality of the HP-11C that comes close to being "the best", even if the competition is limited to HP products.

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Well, being my first hp doesn't make it the best. You're right in that being equal to the best battery life is not THE best battery life. Having the same high level of protection from dust, liquids, and esd as any other voyager doesn't make it the best either. That it is in the class of hp with the least battery/battery bleeding/battery door/memory lost related (stupid design) problems doesn't make it the only one in that desirable group.

Still; if i was going to be trapped on a desert island for 17 years then an 11c with new batteries would be my second choice for a calculator.

[Mike Morrow]

If I had a way to charge AAA-cells, the HP 50g would be my choice even though I don't like its RPL or its size. If no electrical resupply was possible, then I'd take an HP-42S, followed rather distantly by a real HP-15C (not LE!!). The HP-11C is far from qualifying as "the best" (in the true since of the term) in any specific detail, and even more removed when an overall evaluation is made.

[uhmgawa]

Quote:

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The HP-11C is far from qualifying as "the best" (in the true since of the term) in any specific detail..

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AFAIK only one slight but measurable advantage exists for the
11c relative to the 15c as the 11/12/16c only contain one
ram/rom/display device vs. two present in the 15c. When the NUT
is active and generating bus clocks the additional R2D2 adds
~0.37mA to the dynamic current consumption of the system. This
is only significant when the NUT is active due to a lengthy
native operation or executing a user program. However in
typical usage this is likely buried in the measurement noise.

[Joerg Woerner]

Dennis,

The HP-11C has at least a much better keyboard than the HP-16C LE ;-))

The Corvus 500 has such a crisp and snappy (perfect) keyboard and great (HP) display.

BUT: Did you notice that I offer both of them CHEAPER than my TI-59???

Cheers,
Joerg

BTW: The best of this week's calculators is for sure the Panasonic 850. Go for it. 40 years old and still new.

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Quote:

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I offer both of them CHEAPER than my TI-59

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so; since almost every corvus and 11c ever made that hasn't been closed up in some surveyors tailgate is still operating, good ones aren't that rare. i'll guess that your expensive 59 is one of the few not crippled by battery leakage directly onto the pcb, bad keys, or card reader issues. some people liked the traverse program in the 58/59 rom more than the 65/67 or even the 41 because it stored points. the 3rd party roms and kirber's rewrite of the hp rom using extended for storage took care of that TI advantage.

if that 850 is as valuable as you say, i may auction off mine next. i never use it. dam thing is missing the enter key. ;-)

[Palmer O. Hanson, Jr.]

Quote:

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I'll guess that your expensive 59 is one of the few not crippled by battery leakage directly onto the pcb,...

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Allowing battery leakage directly onto the pcb must have been considered to be a good idea at the time. H-P incorporated that feature into the HP-41.

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

Quote:

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H-P incorporated that feature into the HP-41.

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Into the HP-48 & 49 also. That's how I've lost one HP-48S and one HP-49G.

[Palmer O. Hanson, Jr.]

Quote:

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Into the HP-48 & 49 also. That's how I've lost one HP-48S and one HP-49G.

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What is really curious about this is that earlier models show that both HP and TI knew better at one time.

[Michael de Estrada]

Quote:

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The Corvus 500 has such a crisp and snappy (perfect) keyboard and great (HP) display.

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I own a very minty Corvus 500, and while the keyboard is certainly clicky, I would not put it in the same league as the better HP models of the day. The snappyness is excessive, obnoxious and noisy to the point that I would probably be removed from a library were I to use it there. Much better is the keyboard on the Omron 12SR, and that green VFD display is positively dreamy.

[Palmer O. Hanson, Jr.]

Quote:

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The best of this week's calculators is for sure the Panasonic 850. Go for it. 40 years old and still new.

---

I have an 850 and two 883's including the specified power supplies. The 850 specifies the JL-022 power supply. The 883 specifies the JL-026 power supply. The power specifications are the same. The JL-022 has a red indicator light in the lower right hand corner. The JL-026's do not have the indicator light. Are these chargers interchangeable?