Craigslist find and fix - HP 19C



#2

A guy on Craigslist not in my neck of the woods was selling a "broken" HP 19C for $10. I gave him $5 in shipping and got the calculator, the original box, a box of thermal paper, and all the manuals. The calculator did not turn on, but a trip to Batteries Plus and $22 fixed that. Now the calculator works perfectly, even the printer. I am super excited about the calculator (especially for $37), but I have two questions:

1) The AC adapter is only putting out 3V instead of 8V. Is this something that can be fixed? I would really hate to cut the calculator end off of it to put a new adapter on it.

2) What is the going rate for the 19C? There is only one for sale on TAS, and that one has a broken printer. I haven't seen a price for a fully functional one. I am not interested in selling it right now, but want to make sure that I don't get taken if I ever decide to sell or trade.


#3

Congrats on what I am sure was a very nice buy. I do not know anything about the machine, but I was wondering...I have seen TAS mentioned here 3 or 4 times recently. What is it?


#4

TAS That Auction Site (ebay)


#5

Haha that's cute. I've seen TAS a lot, and wondered why no one hardly ever mentioned eBay. Cool. TAS it is then!


#6

Hi.

TAS is kinda fellow-mate for TOS (The Other Site). Because an specific adds section is provided, we suppress these references and use their 'nicknames' here at the forum. Common sense, though.

Cheers.

Luiz (Brazil)

#7

My sympathies :-) I picked up a 19C recently for $2 at a local thrift store. Admittedly, my 19C came without box, manuals, or AC adapter, and it too had a dead battery pack. But I still had the AC adapters from my HP-IL peripherals and I had a 19C thirty-some years ago so I didn't miss the manuals.

#8

I bought a 19C on TAS about two years ago, but it was included in a box with several other calculators, so its hard to say exactly what I paid for it.

From what I remember, the 29C goes for a little more money, even though they are more common. The 19C seems to be a little under appreciated. I love mine and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Dave

#9

Your 19C may have a hardware Easter Egg. Take a look at the pic that Katie posted here in this link. Look for the third posting in the thread.


Matt


#10

Thank you for that. Can't wait to check mine when I get home.

#11

Hot Dang! I know the listing, you beat me to it by less than 24 hours!! Congratulations! Wondered if he actually did sell it for $10 or not. Good ot hear it went to someone who wanted it.

Actually, its nice to know the seller was honest. I offered him more than $10 w/o knowing if he had other offers (not by much, end of month, ya know). I have bought goodies on first come/first served even though someone else offered more just because I got there first. Its really nice to know there are honest people.

Glad the batteries worked for you! :)

#12

I didn't read your whole post before my first response.

19C's command a premium, especially if they work. Over the last 3 to 4 years there have been a number, but still not overly common on TAS. But a 19C alone (often w/o battery back or back door) have went for $200-$300. Working units, complete, (calc/BATTpak/back coor/case) $300-$500.

Very often what you purchased: books, complete working calc, box (in very good condition), etc. sell for $400-$800. I don't have a 19C today, just because they cost too much.

Recalling the picture on Craigslist you'd be on the upper end of the price range. Probably a $700/$800 unit judging from previous TAS sales I've seen over the last 3 years.

You most *DEFINATELY* received a great bargain on your purchase.

#13

Do not, Do not, Do not, Do not, Do not use the adapter!

Even if you can guarantee the NiCads are perfect and the contacts to the machine are perfect, you cannot guarantee that the electrical contact will always be live.

Remember, this is a Woodstock (correct me if I am wrong) and suffers the same fate when the resistance is infinite due to:

No batteries inserted,
Bad batteries inserted,
No contact between the batteries and the calculator.

I dismantle the battery pack, and insert charged NiCads in mine. I never use the wall wart (adapter) as I cannot guarantee that even a new NiCad may have a flaw. When a charge is required, I rremove the pack and charge them outside the calculator.

Cheers, Geoff

Edited: 13 Aug 2012, 1:18 p.m.


#14

Message received and warning heeded. Has someone made a writeup of a way to charge these packs without removing the cells? Maybe it won't be too much of an issue for a while since I don't use the printer.


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Prime cant find Memory available Dougggg 5 2,048 10-07-2013, 07:24 PM
Last Post: Han
  HP Prime can't find how to use partfrac function ! dg1969 3 1,653 10-04-2013, 09:25 PM
Last Post: Joe Horn
  OT - A lucky find - Busicom Handy-LE LE-120A Cristian Arezzini 2 1,864 09-26-2013, 04:43 AM
Last Post: Cristian Arezzini
  SCIOVR and ENGOVR in FIX mode Andrew Nikitin 5 1,862 07-02-2013, 04:46 AM
Last Post: Victor Koechli
  Looking for scans of a HP-19c Box ledudu 5 2,195 01-20-2013, 06:13 AM
Last Post: Lode
  Capacitor Value affirmation, 19C: ME needs EE Help! aj04062 24 5,788 09-26-2012, 06:30 PM
Last Post: Diego Diaz
  A temporary "fix", the Casio Prism (fx-CG10) LHH 5 2,079 08-25-2012, 07:39 PM
Last Post: LHH
  Where to find the HP 39GII in London Miguel Toro 10 2,867 08-01-2012, 01:23 AM
Last Post: Thomas Radtke
  41CV from craigslist David Persinger (US) 14 4,183 06-14-2012, 03:06 AM
Last Post: aurelio
  Keyboard fix for the HP 15C LE Jeff Raines 2 1,194 03-31-2012, 12:49 AM
Last Post: Jeff Raines

Forum Jump: