Calculator blog

I have seen in Facebook several opinions about the HP15c CE and I would like to comment on them.

• The HP15c CE and HP15c LE are not "the same calculator": there is a different processor, more advanced and with less consumption. Also the keyboard quality is superior. Battery life is at least 6 times better on the CE than the LE. My first CE is still running with the first set of batteries despite being my main calculator. 
• The HP15c CE is reallistically firmware upgradeable. By "reallistically" I mean that there is a method and a non-DIY cable available here. Also, the HP15c CE is very difficult to brick: I have modified with new firmware more than 200 units with no failure whatsoever. 
• All the known bugs of the HP15c LE have been fixed in the first CE firmware.
• The CE comes with more memory: 98 registers instead of 65 - and there is a hidden method to get to 194. This opens up a lot of application possiblities, regarding long programs and/or heavy matrices (you can have, for example, 3 8x8 matrices simultaneously!).
• The CE comes also with a hidden, non-supported HP16c "clone" inside. To make use of this clone there is an available silicone overlay with the HP16c key set up. The original firmware has a bug, but this is easily solvable with the programming cable. Below a calculator running the HP16c clone without the bug.
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• The USB connection (albeit with a non-standard plug, solved by the cable) can allow backing up and restoring memory (increasingly important with the extended registers) and interfacing with external software HP15c simulators, with just a firmware change. This also opens the possibility of software pacs (Finance, EE, Mechanical engineering, Algebra, etc.)

Hopefully not too far in the future...