Back at their heyday, there were those that bought the HP 41c because it was the ultimate calculator, only to discover that the cheaper HP 15c had many more functions, and more conveniently located in the keyboard. Some things that the plain HP 41c did not have:

-matrix algebra

-complex numbers

-extended factorial (gamma function)

-solve

-integral

-...

The user of the hp41c could lie to himself “I can have all that if I buy the right modules”, but that would be an enormous money outlay. It must be said that the advantage module provided most of that missing functionality, but it was never as well integrated as it was on the 15c. 

both competitors face to face. Forgive the picture quality!

For example, the complete 4-level complex stack in the 15c; or how well integrated were the matrix functions and the “user” mode to automatically change the pointer for matrix data entry; or the clever use of the permutations and combinations keys for matrix transformations. It really was a clever and elegant device, and still is: more than 25.000 units of the new version have been sold since September 2011.

The only two things where the hp41c always got the upper hand was in alpha capabilities and connectivity. (In fact, it can be argued that it has never been bettered in that area, the USB connection of the 50g family being a poor shadow of the many modules and printers that the HP 41c could drive).

30 years later, the HP 41c user got vindicated - finally. With the “CL” module, you have access to all the functions ever created for the HP 41c in the different modules - all at the same time. 

My preferred current set-up (that is good for my work and my hobbies at the same time) is Advantage pack, Sandmath module (latest version) and HP 41Z module (the Z module has a much better complex support than the advantage pac, in my humble opinion - thanks Angel Martín!). With it, I can say I have let the HP15c behind. But it has taken ages and effort!

I go on playing with my HP 41cl. I was today making use of the different functions of the Sandmath module. (For the time being, I have entered the advantage PAC and the Sandmath module only. I have been using the advantage PAC for a long time and I know what’s in it; but the Sandmath is completely new for me)

In my ignorance, and having entered the latest Sandmath version, I did not read that I needed to install first the Library #4. That took me some time to find out. Once I sorted it out, I started using the number theory functions.

My elder son (9) is now learning how to factor a number in prime factors. It was nice to teach him the PRIME? and PFCT functions, so he sees that calcs have other uses apart from mere number crunching. He wanted to take it to class! He will be able to do the minimum common multiple and maximum common divisor too- that’s for next term though.

I have not made a speed comparison between the HP 15c and the HP 41cl. I will probably do it this week end (I have already ported all my 15c programs to the 41cl. I was able to make some improvements, using the additional functions of the ’cl). The more time consuming is my implementation of the IRR, using the advantage pac’s SOLVE function. For a 10 year calculation, it was taking a couple of minutes with the original calculator, and 5-10 seconds with the new one. Let’s see.

(For the to-do list: I want to browse through the multiple modules, to see which programs may be of use for me or my son. Incidentally, I will be reminded of how the world has progressed since the 41c launch.for example,the astro module tells the situation of a number of astronomy objects; same tasks can be achieved with one of the multiple apps for iPad, in graphical form, faster and more conveniently. Sorry for the digression)

HP 41CL: the last development of the best calculator ever!

Our sister site: www.theportableaudiostore.com

Just received the hp41cl pack. I have several Calculator donors that will fit the bill.

The package presentation is excellent! I ordered the main board, the serial interface and the serial cable. All were independently packed, the main board in anti static  folder; and everything well protected in bubble wrap.

I plan to assemble it this afternoon. I palm to offer this as a service to our customers. It happens that I have some suitable calculators to modify, so I will offer them as pack too.

___

I have finally assembled it. It worked from the first time! I used a CV calculator that had good screen and keyboard but that had been severely damaged and repaired in the past. I figured that it would be better to test it with the worse calculator. Lets then try to upgrade one of my better ones.

Here are a couple of pictures.

A new calculator is born!

Fuller view of the birth of the HP41CL

The kit comes even with proper labeling that substitutes the original:

The speed is fantastic! I have put mine on Turbo50 (50 times faster than the original) and it really improves the speed.

I have included the serial interface. So far I have no need to include any more images (that’s what the serial interface is for). I have put the infrared printer module, and it worked the first time. I need to locate now a time module (does anyone have a spare one?), and I will leave the remaining slot for my HP-Il interface (in order to connect my HP-3468A multimeter). I guess that I will have then a quite complete device! (I am missing the timer functions that I have with my HP41cx - it really helps when you want to take multimeter measures at given times - it cannot be a match of a humble iPhone when it comes to convenience for anything else)

So far I have only included the Advantage module in slot 2. First I tried to do it in slot one but then I destroyed the additional memory management functions. I had to reinstall them again!

Please look at it running the TVM program of the Advantage pac:

And here, printing with the infrared module in slot 4:

I am offering it as a service (you supply the calculator and we upgrade it), or supplying a complete calculator (we do supply a suitable HP41c calculator, already upgraded to CL level, and initialized)

During this week end I will put on sale a couple of wonderful, fully restored HP 97. Tomorrow I will be able to take some pictures in daylight, and probably will use some to illustrate this blog issue. But now I wanted to talk about old HP user manuals.

I am now referring to the one of the HP 97. The impression of quality it oozes brings me back to my youth, when I was reading these manuals in awe. At that time, I was at the Spanish school equivalent of year 7, and many of the examples used were as new for me as the calculator itself. I saw the pictures, like this one: a hp97 being used on the table of a business aircraft. (Apparently, what can be seen below the calculator is a flight chart, but more expert people in our hobby with flight  experience may give more information about it). It really managed to make the calculator desirable.

When you look at today's calculators, from the blister packaging to the small user manuals (always making reference to the “big” user manual in the CD), you see commoditization at work. And you cannot escape thinking that in some respects, past was better.

(I cannot avoid remembering a discussion in a calculator related forum, where an old timer was speaking fondly about his experiences with slide rules. At that time, someone said “I wonder how could you do any useful thing with that technology, where the old man replied “well, with this technology we managed to go to the moon. Where have you gone with yours?”)

Back to the manuals. 295 pages with 4 different colors; detailed explanations for all operations from the very beginning, with key drawings instead of the ugly boxes seen in modern HP manuals (and rom other brands too).  

The calculator came as well with the Standard Pac, with 15 different programs pre-recorded in magnetic tape. You wonder now if anything of real use could be done with just 228 programming steps (as opposed to many megabytes any small program has now. My iPad has some games that occupy close to 2 Gigabytes - we’re talking seven orders of magnitude factor!). Well - there were some very useful things at could be done with that small memory.

As the machine did not have permanent memory, you had to use a lot the supplied magnetic cards. All programs should be stored there, lest you want to key them in all time, or keep the machine running the whole day!

The manual starts with a detailed quick guide to all important functions, and then follows with several examples to show you how simple to operate the device is; and then it comes into part one: “Using your HP 97 calculator”. It comes then showing all topics in great detail. The clarity is awesome; even more so than that of the HP-41. (To date, the best manuals I have ever seen corresponds to the HP 85). There are problems at the end of each chapter. I remember seeing these when I was a child, and trying to solve some. Fortunately, they were easy - probably this led me the engineering way.

I do not have the original magnetic cards corresponding to the standard pac (or to any other, for that matter…), but in the Standard Pac manual all programs are listed, and I just have to write them in brand new magnetic cards. It’s only that they will never be as sexy as the original dark green were.

Despite the fact that many of us think that the HP41c was the peak of the old HP, it is clear for me that, in manuals, the peak had been reached several years ago.

I wanted just to quote the two sentences written at the beginning of the manual:

“The success and prosperity of our company will be assured only if we offer our customers superior products that fill real needs and provide lasting value, and that are supported by a wide variety of useful services, both before and after sale” (Statement of Corporate Objectives - Hewlett-Packard)

“Since we introduced our first scientific calculator in 1967, we’ve sold over a million worldwide, both pocket and desktop models. Their owners include Nobel laureates, astronauts, mountain climbers, businessmen, doctors, students and housewives.
Each of our calculators is precision crafted and designed to solve the problems its owner can expect to encounter through a working lifetime.
HP Calculators fill real needs. And they provide lasting value”

Humbling, isn’t it?

The HP97 in the French construction industry.

I am working for a company that supplies aluminum profiles to the construction industry. Its main brand, Technal, had its origins in France and was in the avant-garde of the industry.

Their customers are window-makers. They need to calculate offers for their customers, based on the size of the windows and the model of the window used. The company sells aluminum profiles that are cut to length and joined into windows and doors. Prices for the different profiles and accessories vary.

There are now sophisticated cad-based budgeting systems, and you can imagine a spreadsheet-based budgeting system on the cheap. But at the end of the seventies and beginning of the eighties, these options did not exist.

Technal then decided to offer their customers a way of easily preparing offers to the final-final customers. They offered them  the HP97, with cards with programs and data, so that new price lists could be sent easily (please remember that, at the time, the fax was being introduced; the only business computer was the apple ][; and the HP41c had not been introduced yet). They sold several hundred units.

Here is a little bit of the story - you need to be able to read French to understand it!:

The HP 82240B infrared printer

Welcome back to the Hewlett Packard of the past! From the box style to the manuals, to the polythene packaging, this product smells like 20 years old. All around it looks from another era. The only difference is that you can buy it new, now.

Sturdy, slow, heavy, and yet the only practical way to print with your infrared-enabled HP calculator. I have successfully used it to print with an HP50g, an old HP17bII, a new HP17bII+, an HP19bII, and HP28s, a HP42s, a HP41c equipped with the infrared module…

A caveat: you will not be satisfied if you're just using it with batteries. It is so slow it hurts! It sounds like it's crying for help. Fortunately, we were able to find several original HP chargers - the only problem is that they use the British plug (you can find them here in the website). I am now using a British to Schuko adaptor. It really changes the product, making the printer much faster and seemingly robust.

The paper it now comes with is black, with quite good contrast. When compared with the blue that came with any of the HP97s we have (more on that on a later blog issue), it is clearer and sharper.

With the HP42s, it is really comfortable committing your programs to paper. As you cannot store them elsewhere, as it was the case with the HP41c…

Even with new batteries, you cannot avoid having some characters printed as a "block", and some end-of-carriage characters do not come through, having sometimes 2 program lines on the same line. Sometimes characters are lost, too.

With any of the HP19bII ("weak door" and "back door"), the printer works as a charm. It is clear that both were designed to work together. Even the body color and texture are the same. And in this case, the trace mode and the print menu is really optimized. There are no gaps or missing characters. The quality of the printout is excellent. For us engineers that ended up in a financial job, it can really help to track the calculations you did. Among the printing functions of the HP9bII, there is one for printing all registers, and another to print all variables defined in the solvers:

(I had just pressed "CLEAR DATA" and therefore all had to be zero)

There are too the typical trace functions, where all entries are printed, including the name of all functions.

For those of you who use your calculator at work, this is bordering on the "need to have" as opposed to the "nice to have". You can print you calculations at will, document your little programs, and it is an incredible help in tracking your thoughts while calculating (when you're following your thoughts while calculating, instead of executing a calculation that you have previously written)

The HP300s+

Here are the first samples of the new HP300s+. Those that have ordered it will probably have received it by now, so you can comment on this review if you so want.

The first impression is that it shares with the HP10s+ the new "iPhone"-like body. Please take a look to both together.

It has a strong family feeling with the old SmartCalc 300s. You can see it in the pictures below. The basic keyboard design, the screen format (where the new model is slightly better in contrast and sharpness), even the format of many of the function lettering, implies that the designer is the same. As the hp300s+ was functionally equivalent to the Casio Fx-85, we wonder which is the equivalent of this one.

The former model had slanted keys, but they were not "click and rotate". Even though, the feeling was similar - but no yet the same thing.

The new calculator has as well the glossy black finish throughout, which attracts fingertips like honey attracts flies. I always makes me wonder how greasy my fingers are. apparently everybody else's are too.

The new model has flatter keys and bigger numbers (since there is a bigger "real estate" on each key. Compared with the previous model, only the 7 and = keys have not a shifted function.

New functions include Greatest Common Divisor, Lowest Common Multiple, a conversion menu with 40 different unit pairs, memories to add and subtract, and others.

The standard input and output format is MthIo. When you just press "=", you get an expression including the irrational numbers (if any) in the result. By this we mean, as an example, sin(45) gives SQR(2)/2, instead of 0,707. Same happens when it's Pi which appears.

The manual feels better than many current HP manuals, and it clearly has not been put together by the same people (which is neither good nor bad - it’s just a statement). It’s very small in size and can fit in many a student’s bag. It reminds me of the former hp12c manuals: very small, but with everything the user could want or need at hand.

I had the opportunity to purchase a defective fullnut HP41c, in pristine state, a couple of weeks ago. When testing it, in front of the vendor, it was sad to see it was not working. On the other hand, the keyboard feel was excellent, and all ports and battery compartment were in good shape, and I figured that it could at least be a good spare parts source.

This was the unit I got. When seeing how well it felt, I opened it. It seemed that the only problem was the typical one: the screw posts broke down and the circuit did not press enough on the contacts. One fixed, it worked! But now I had something that could be converted in a HP41 CL. So I ordered one unit from Monte Dalrymple. Now it's on its way from the US. I ordered the whole bunch - including the serial connector.

I look forward to experiment with it.

If someone is willing to sell his fullnut 41c, please give me a call - I am interested!

On the other hand, I am looking to get the only thing that the HP41cl comes without: the time module. If you want to sell one, I am interested too!