New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

General discussion about calculators, SwissMicros or otherwise
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HPMike
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by HPMike »

Bill K. - USA wrote:
Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:19 pm
Now if you're committed to RPN, there are other HP calculator options as well: you could find on the second-hand market a HP-50g ($150-$500) or an HP-35S (maybe similar prices). But probably the cheapest HP RPN option would be a newHP P rime G2 which you can get for about $130. The cool thing about the Prime is that it can do CAS (Computer Algebra System), which would be very helpful for doing calculus in a physics curriculum.

I'm not fond of the Prime, though: I find its color display to be pixelated, and it feels more like a mini-computer than a calculator, and you have to learn the individual apps. And if I need a computer, I'm going to go full bore and pull out a laptop with a keyboard I can type on. Now the Prime does support RPN, but it's not as smooth IIRC as it is on more traditional HP calculators.
The HP Prime CANNOT be programmed in RPN.
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
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Walter
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by Walter »

As Bill wrote before, there are simulators available for the calculators recommended, so you can try e.g. a WP43 on your PC for free before buying anything. I vote for gaining some user experience this way - actually I strongly recommend this. By doing this, you'll also get a personal impression of the quality of the corresponding documents (manuals) ... This will ease your forthcoming decision certainly.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
Bill K. - USA
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by Bill K. - USA »

Here's a rough comparison (and I'm sure some of these entries are wrong or debatable).
Updated June 7 2023 with comments from ensuing posts. (If someone wants to run MEM? on WP43/DM41X/DM32, I'll add those numbers too.)
Comparison16.jpg
Comparison16.jpg (253.66 KiB) Viewed 791 times
There are many, many reviews of all of these calculators online which you can find and read or watch.
Last edited by Bill K. - USA on Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:23 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Steve Simpkin
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by Steve Simpkin »

Bill K. Thank you for the very nice comparison chart!
FYI there are (Windows) PC Simulators available for the HP-32SII and HP-35S calculators. C47 has a Windows simulator as well.
redglyph
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by redglyph »

Nice comparison table.

The HP-15C is landscape, not portrait. ;)

I saw that the HP Prime had a lower price; it's quite competitive but still unfinished and unstable apparently. I thought the programming was a proprietary language (HP PPL) and not Basic, but I may be wrong.

My favourite remains the HP-50g for engineering (well, the HP-48, but that's the closest), and the HP-15C for daily tasks.
DA74254
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by DA74254 »

redglyph wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 12:19 pm
Nice comparison table.

The HP-15C is landscape, not portrait. ;)

I saw that the HP Prime had a lower price; it's quite competitive but still unfinished and unstable apparently. I thought the programming was a proprietary language (HP PPL) and not Basic, but I may be wrong.

My favourite remains the HP-50g for engineering (well, the HP-48, but that's the closest), and the HP-15C for daily tasks.
HP PPL is a flavour of Pascal, not Basic (nor C for that matter, either).
Esben
DM42 SN: 00245, WP43 Pilot SN:00002, DM32 SN: 00045 (Listed in obtained order).
Bill K. - USA
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by Bill K. - USA »

Thank you for the corrections: I've updated the chart and re-posted it!
rprosperi
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by rprosperi »

Helpful chart Bill, thanks for making it, it should be useful for new folks looking for a machine.

Here are some suggestions to make it even more useful:

Add the DM15L and the DM41X. Both are equally viable and including them paints a broader and fuller picture of the real choices available

Add USB to Additional features (or maybe a new row?) for the DM32, DM42, WP43, C47, 50g and Prime. Its an important distinction from the 15C and 32Sii's standalone nature. It may be useful to expand this (multiple rows?) to include the ability to make backups and import/export programs and data.

For the "Complete" row, I suggest limited this to either YES or NO. "Almost" for the WP43 and C47 is debatable and subjective. I'd even predict the DM32 will be complete before either of these (their developers would likely agree), so it's best to stick to facts.

I think it's misleading to characterize the 50g and Prime as "Complicated"; RPN is complicated if you learned RPL first, so again subjective and reader dependent. If this is focused for existing RPN users, it's probably better to list these as "RPL" and "Limited RPN" or something similar, respectively.

The DM32 really has no Alpha capability - if you intend this to mean that program view is not limited to key-codes (as in the 15C/DM15) it's probably more clear to add that as a limit for those machines, and use Alpha in this row to mean supporting Alpha data, true for DM42, DM41X, WP43, C47, 50g and Prime.

I hope these suggestions are taken in the spirit of improving an already very good tool, as intended.

Thanks again for the idea and effort to make this useful guide.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
BruceH
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by BruceH »

DA74254 wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:56 pm
redglyph wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 12:19 pm
Nice comparison table.

The HP-15C is landscape, not portrait. ;)

I saw that the HP Prime had a lower price; it's quite competitive but still unfinished and unstable apparently. I thought the programming was a proprietary language (HP PPL) and not Basic, but I may be wrong.

My favourite remains the HP-50g for engineering (well, the HP-48, but that's the closest), and the HP-15C for daily tasks.
HP PPL is a flavour of Pascal, not Basic (nor C for that matter, either).
Looking at a PPL program listing, it doesn't remind me of Pascal any more than it does of BASIC or C. It doesn't really remind me of any one particular language, tbh.
DA74254
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Re: New "HP"-15C Collectors Edition

Post by DA74254 »

BruceH wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:06 pm
DA74254 wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:56 pm
redglyph wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2023 12:19 pm
Nice comparison table.

The HP-15C is landscape, not portrait. ;)

I saw that the HP Prime had a lower price; it's quite competitive but still unfinished and unstable apparently. I thought the programming was a proprietary language (HP PPL) and not Basic, but I may be wrong.

My favourite remains the HP-50g for engineering (well, the HP-48, but that's the closest), and the HP-15C for daily tasks.
HP PPL is a flavour of Pascal, not Basic (nor C for that matter, either).
Looking at a PPL program listing, it doesn't remind me of Pascal any more than it does of BASIC or C. It doesn't really remind me of any one particular language, tbh.
http://www.hp-prime.de/en/category/10-programming
Esben
DM42 SN: 00245, WP43 Pilot SN:00002, DM32 SN: 00045 (Listed in obtained order).
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