To all current and prospective HP17BII+ owners:
I finally got around to requesting a replacement for my OLD HP17BII+, SN CN33301xxx, which did not support L() and G(). My unit was purchased in March of 2004, and I first inquired about a replacement in October. I was told to wait a month since the procedure to replace old units with units that had L() and G() was not yet in place. I was assured that replacement was not a problem, EVEN if my warranty had expired. I checked back in December, and was asked again to wait.
I called back last week, and the 1(800)HPINVENT menu choices of “Handheld”, then “Calculator” led to a message that HP was experiencing “server problem”. After a few days of getting the same message, I tried the old fashioned “don’t choose an option and wait for a human” approach.
I did reach a human, albeit one with an accent ;-) Said human could not understand 17BII+ as a model number, even after many attempts at spelling it out explicitly. I was even asked if my unit was an iPAQ, and whether I was running Windows XP! Don’t we wish, or maybe NOT ;-)
I finally suggested looking for the group that supports the HP33s. VOILA!
I was transferred to a non-accented person who proceeded to inform me that L() and G() were undocumented functions, so my unit was functioning perfectly as advertised. Therefore, I was NOT entitled to a warranty replacement. HOWEVER, he would replace my unit THIS ONE TIME ONLY as a “nicety”. I wonder if that word is actually in the script ;-)
Anyway, my replacement unit, SN CN41202xxx arrived yesterday. I eagerly entered a test equation into the Solver, and promptly locked up the machine. Repeat testing confirmed that attempting to run ANY equation in the Solver would result in a blank display, or garbage, necessitating a reset.
Reaching calculator support was easier the second time around. Support person was also MUCH more responsive, expediting a replacement, which arrived this morning. IMPRESSIVE!
New unit, SN CNA41806xxx, was not impressive. The first support person WAS RIGHT, L() and G() ARE unsupported functions because THEY DON’T WORK!
L(A:X) + 2*G(A) – B = 0
Entering 5 for X, SHOULD return 10 for B. Actual result is B=5. My Black-Scholes formulas return nonsense values for CALLV and PUTV.
Bottom line: Don’t expect to be able to use L() and G() on the NEW HP17BII+’s.
Bob Wang