Current and future RPN pocket calculators: WP34S, DM42, WP43S, C43, now C47

[TimFox]

I started with an HP25 in the 1970s and haven't looked back.  I could manipulate it with only my right thumb, but recharging was a pain (LED readout).
Since then, I have used and continue to use HP41s and Swiss Micro clones.
Calculators are what you keep in your shirt pocket on the jobsite, Excel is what you use at your desk.
I quickly found that RPN is, in fact, equivalent to my mental process when doing arithmetic at the job;  Excel is when you need to keep a record of entries and results, especially for repeated use of the same functions.
I tried with some success to convert engineers to RPN in the late 1980s:  I found that those who stuck with algebraic entry quickly became confused in nested parentheses and were using storage registers (or even written notes) to keep multi-step calculations coherent.
Before the HPs, I had used RPN (before anyone called it that) on desk calculators, and even took a course in formal logic where I learned "forward Polish notation" (aka Łukasiewicz) for propositional calculus, in place of Russell-Whitehead notation (equivalent to algebraic entry, with parentheses) and its non-typewriter symbols.

[RAPo]

Get an HP16C ;-)
In the programming vain: I had a summer job as a postscript specialist: programming (graphic files) by hand ;-)

I go back to the HP80 in the late 70s.  Currently use a 38C and a 15C, along with a Casio fx-115 to do decimal/hex/binary conversions.

Of course if you use RPN calculators, you also have to code in Forth, which is RPP (Reverse Polish Programming).

[RAPo]

Yes, those were the days. I've studied chaotic systems, which was also a hot topic in those years.
I vividly remember a talk by Vincent Icke at the summer school for philosophy, where he demonstrated the attractor(s) of a*x*(1-x) for varying a by using the speaker of the HP41.
You could hear if there were one, two, or more fixed points.

I became ingrained with RPN; it is in my finger memory. Over the years, I have had several other calculators, including non-RPN ones like TI-59. These are all in calculator heaven now.

Two things I envy you:

1) Studying Math at the university
2) You did jump on the RPN train when it was the right time.

I missed the RPN wave because my TI-68 was doing everything, and according to my standards, very well.
One night in we had a smart guy invited for dinner in our dorm and I remember him telling the others how HP RPN calc are so superior... his eyes were on fire...
I was involved in another conversation in the other room corner so I did not join them.

Fast forward 20 years later, I finally understood and was blown away by the RPN method, and I ate all my fingers because I wasted to much time pushing buttons during my EE study.

Currently I have Plus42 app on my phone, and loooove it.

PS: I also had a SM DM42, but it was not there and my phone was when needed, so I sold it.

[RAPo]

The blashemy. A real HP-calculator owner would never do that.

Look for how much $ you can sell them on ebay... mind blowing.

[Sal Ammoniac]

The blashemy. A real HP-calculator owner would never do that.

Look for how much $ you can sell them on ebay... mind blowing.

I agree. I'll never sell any of mine.

[tggzzz]

Look for how much $ you can sell them on ebay... mind blowing.

HP35s are cheaper than they were in 1974 - and that's without allowing for inflation.

[Zucca]

HP35s are cheaper than they were in 1974 - and that's without allowing for inflation.

Look how much a TI-30, introduced in 1976, goes on Ebay eBay auction: #176520060104.
Furthermore, good luck to find anything from TI still working from 197x.

My point is how much HP calc are holding the value....

I believe many have HP calc forgotten in the attic and they don't realize how much they sell for...

[tggzzz]

HP35s are cheaper than they were in 1974 - and that's without allowing for inflation.

Look how much a TI-30, introduced in 1976, goes on Ebay eBay auction: #176520060104.
Furthermore, good luck to find anything from TI still working from 197x.

My point is how much HP calc are holding the value....

I believe many have HP calc forgotten in the attic and they don't realize how much they sell for...

HP stuff was good and innovative.

I had some Mullard "mustard" capacitors, which I threw out. Then I realised how much people paid for the horrible things!

[HighVoltage]

Look how much a TI-30, introduced in 1976, goes on Ebay eBay auction: #176520060104.
Furthermore, good luck to find anything from TI still working from 197x.

My point is how much HP calc are holding the value....

Yes!
TI-30 sells for US$ 10 and HP RPN 32S-II sells for >300 US$ in good conditions.
I would never sell any of my collectors calculators.

[Sorama]

I still have (and use) my HP 41CX and 28S.

[ebastler]

TI-30 sells for US$ 10 and HP RPN 32S-II sells for >300 US$ in good conditions.

Which goes to show that HP aficionados are a bit irrational?

The fact that the TI-30 was the entry-level calculator and also the standard-issue school calculator of its time might have something to do with this specific price comparison.

But more broadly there is probably also the fact that several companies still make modern algebraic-notation calculators, while only HP (or their licensee Moravia) still makes the occasional RPN calculator. And even for some of those new models they charge "collector pricing". Hence, besides general sentimental value, there is probably also the "they don't make 'em like that anymore" aspect which drives the prices of vintage HP calculators.

[tggzzz]

TI-30 sells for US$ 10 and HP RPN 32S-II sells for >300 US$ in good conditions.

Which goes to show that HP aficionados are a bit irrational?

The fact that the TI-30 was the entry-level calculator and also the standard-issue school calculator of its time might have something to do with this specific price comparison.

But more broadly there is probably also the fact that several companies still make modern algebraic-notation calculators, while only HP (or their licensee Moravia) still makes the occasional RPN calculator. And even for some of those new models they charge "collector pricing". Hence, besides general sentimental value, there is probably also the "they don't make 'em like that anymore" aspect which drives the prices of vintage HP calculators.

Nah. The rest of the world is irrational.

For example, take this page from the instruction sheet of a calculator I've just received. It was a very popular calculator made by a dominant calculator company, and is contemporary with the HP35.

Now tell us whether it is algebraic, RPN, half-RPN, or something else. (The upside down smiley switch selects 2 decimal place rounding, The "=" key does more than complete a calculation, I've ignored the single "%=" key, and let's just say it has a memory -- but "not as you know it" )

[RAPo]

My big brother, who is 12 years older than me and is a road engineer, bought a TI-30.
As a result, I got his slide rule :-)
When he showed it to me, he said, "Now I show you that the machine needs time to think". Keying in 22 sin, the display went blank and returned the answer after a second or so.

When I got my HP41CX, I showed him the same calculation, this time with the following statement: "Now I show you my machine just knows and doesn't need to think."
He smiled, remembered the earlier event, and said, "I was wrong buying the TI." Then, he wasn't my big brother anymore, but we were on equal footing.

...
Yes!
TI-30 sells for US$ 10 and HP RPN 32S-II sells for >300 US$ in good conditions.
I would never sell any of my collectors calculators.

[ebastler]

My big brother, [...] bought a TI-30.
When I got my HP41CX [...]

No fair! 

TI-30: 1976, $25.
HP41CX: 1983, $325.
You are comparing TI's first mass-market model with a high-end HP which came out years later.

If you want to compare apples-to-apples, it should be e.g. a TI-59 ($300 in 1977) vs. HP-67 ($450 in late 1976). And the TI comes out quite favorably there -- lower price (much lower in Europe, I believe), twice the memory, and faster. Nevertheless, the HP's seem to have a larger following of collectors; maybe due to HP's broader reputation as a maker of very desirable instruments?

But we are getting dangerously close to a religious war here. I'll shut up now. 

[RAPo]

He and I knew that 😁

[HighVoltage]

One of the reasons for the success of the HP calculators was their Landscape format.
Like this HP-11C that I have always on my desk.
Even in these days, it is fun to work with this calculator.

Or the HP-42S with a 2 line Display.