HP 15C Collector's Edition Review

[@mikepeterson443]

I had this one in school, then switched to 41CX. I still have the 41CX and am still using it. Love the RPN.

[@herminiozepeda3190]

41CX is a fantastic calculator. I had one on my own, but it broke many years ago, so I use an emulator on my PC

[@johan0234523]

I used an 11C (still have it), which was given to me at the time. But I use a much modern DM42 (obviously not HP) nowadays; I could not live without the import / export functionality anymore.

[@mike94560]

I had previously ordered the CE and it was delivered while I was watching this video. I liked my 15C but this one is even better. It is definitely worth buying.

[@InssiAjaton]

My first “calculators” were a pair of slide rulers, one 6” for pocket use, the other one 12” for desk use. Next I added a mechanical (Brunsviga), when I needed 10-digit addition and subtraction, which slide rules did not do. After that, I saw in HP Journal the article about HP 35 pocket calculator and ordered one. Took about 3 months to receive it, but boy - how marvelous it was! When the HP 67 was launched, I got that and donated the 35 to the company receptionist/secretary. Then, I think I got the more pocket friendly HP 11C. At some point I had to handle some binary, octal and hex numbers and added HP 16C. But two calculators in my pockets was not a good long term solution, so i next changed to HP 42S, which I still use to do my tax returns… However, I now have a 15C emulator on my iPad mini, my cell phone, my PC and my MacBook Pro. And, after the 67 card feeder rubber roll went all mushy, I got a 67 emulator for my MacBook Pro. Long live RPN!

[@paulguy5368]

Thanks for a great video. I bought my first HP calculator in 1975. It was an HP 25 and lost all programming when you turned it off (what a pain that was). Later, I bought a 29c and then a 19c. When the 41c came out I bought that as well as the 41cv when that was released. Two further purchases were the 12c and the 15c. I was very interested to hear what you thought of the 15c Collector's Edition as I recently purchased one and I love it. I got a free 39gII with it and that's, hmmm... how shall I put it, interesting. I've sold off all my originals over the years but I find the 15c Collector's Edition does everything I want it to do and at light speed.

[@MrWaalkman]

I think that it's great that they are making this, and I will be getting mine soon. Thanks for the excellent (as always) video!

[@JohnnieMartynov]

Greetings from Czech Republic (Europe), where MORAVIA Consulting company is located. (I didn't know this company.) 🙂 I have no experience with HP (only with Sharp and Casio), but I like this one from your video. 🙂 Thank you.

[@john_hind]

Worth noting that The Calculator Store have 16C overlays and patched 16C emulation firmware now as well as USB firmware flashing cables. The overlay is a high quality rubber membrane which replaces the keycap labels as well as the bezel, but I had to trim it to get it to sit flat, and it is still not ideal (but it would be pretty good if glued down and permanently left in 16C mode). The new firmware does fix the bug shown on the video. I was surprised to find that the programming cable is just a passive adapter and the USB functionality is actually in the calculator. Moravia missed a major trick here: given they were changing the battery compartment anyway, they could easily have fitted a USB-C socket in there opening the possibility of state save/load as well as firmware flashing without needing a special cable. There could have been alternate battery doors with the USB socket exposed or hidden according to taste.

[@milk-it]

I just bought this. I had no idea how powerful it is! My first HP calculator was a 12c I bought in the 1990s. I bought the 15c, because I wanted an HP scientific calculator to update and change over from my Casio fx series. I also bought an HP 35s, which I was lucky to pick up new before they ran out of stock and prices sky rocketed.

[@Quidisi]

My 15c CE comes today. Man, I was an idiot to not buy the 35s :( Glad you snagged a reasonably priced one.

[@milk-it]

@@Quidisi Thanks. Sorry to hear you missed the boat. I got lucky, but I haven't always been when it came to such purchases!

[@WrathofMath]

Great video, that's a beautiful calculator!

[@JDW-]

Great video. But one key difference you did not mention is the fact that the CE has a greenish LCD background, versus the very light gray background of the original. You could also see that difference when you showed the 16C. The light gray background LCD has slightly higher contrast, which makes it even easier to see. I myself am eager to see a 16C CE, and I think it would be fantastic if the LCD background could be made like the original light gray rather than green. While this gripe may seem minor, consider well how much you focus your eyes on the screen. In light of that, small improvements to the LCD would be welcomed.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yes it is a fairly subtle difference but worth mentioning. Apparently Moravia are looking at using a dot matrix LCD rather than 7 segment in the next generation 12C, so it’s also possible if they make a 16C CE it might use that.

[@perfectman3077]

@@CalculatorCulture Next generation 12C? Whaaaaat?!

[@kahuna1247]

This was a wonderful video, thank you!

[@CalculatorCulture]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@brianrosenlof388]

We need the 16c. No one make programmer calculators any more. I would buy one.

[@christopheroliver148]

The HP42S and clones have the functions, but they are harder to use than they are with dedicated programmer's calculators.

[@petermikus2363]

The 15c can apparently emulate the 16.

[@brianrosenlof388]

@@petermikus2363 my phone can emulate it too, but I'd rather just have the dedicated purpose device. It's straightforward. No going through menus, custom plates, etc.

[@christopheroliver148]

@@petermikus2363 That's interesting. I'd expect they'd have very different firmware.

[@lunam7249]

the 15c is completely programable with lots or variables a 5 completely different programs, i used it for complex physics aerodynamics !!, this uses a ARM CORE is like 100x faster in complicated problems

[@electronicayexperimentos]

The keyboard of hp 15c collector's edition is almost the same than the hp 11c calculator. I had the 11c and it was the best calculator I've had. I'll get the new 15c. Thanks for the review.

[@wolfgangrichter6088]

The only addition I would love to have with my HP15C would be bluetooth etc. access to it so that I could save and load programs from/to a laptop.

[@frankwc0o]

Yes, I agree. Like the Swissmicro calculators.

[@MrKentaroMotoPI]

I'll send yoy some of my 3x5 cards 😆

[@psquared3485]

Are the keys doube injection molded like they were on the original 15C? The chracters on the original 15C keyboard would never wear off because they were molded in, not painted / printed on after the keys were molded.

[@CalculatorCulture]

the keys on the 15C CE have printed labels. I should have mentioned that since it's a significant difference like you say.

[@lunam7249]

i used mine several years and have not even faded keys

[@MrKentaroMotoPI]

The blue characters on the chamfers were printed on. I gave my wife an 11c in 1981. In the ensuing decades, she's managed to scratch the blue characters off of two keys. I won't let her touch my 15c!

[@christopherguy1217]

I love the 15C. I bought the 15C Limited Edition and that thing bricked itself. My old 15C still works.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Scrobot Asaurus's speed comparison videos put the original Voyager series calculators into the mix and I was interested to see how slow they were compared even to other programmable calculators of that general era. Of course, that may have been a tradeoff for low power drain. I had friends who swore by them even in the 90s.

[@orivaa]

Great video as always. However as a collector I don't want a collector's edition. I want (and have) the real thing. Especially since you can get an original one in good condition for less than the CE.

[@josegonzalezdivasson5328]

There is a fix for the HP16c bug and there is a rubber overlay for the HP16c available

[@UweGrassme]

I already own a HP-15C LE, so I bought the CE basically for fun, but I wanted to use it as calculator too. Unfortunately the keys are bouncing - the 1st one with 4,5 (you see it and can correct it) and sqrt (you hardly notice that). I sent it back and got another one. Here the sin-key bounces. I'm really disappointed because key denouncing in software is not difficult - how could they fail with that?

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah that's puzzling. I haven't noticed any bounce on my one, but you're right - it should be relatively easy to fix in software.

[@jakubkolcar6789]

I do not think the 2032 cells are in series to provide 6V. I think they are connected paralelly, so that you can switch them one by one without losing memomry.

[@handbackurmbe]

They have to be in series to produce 6V because CR2032 cells are 3V.

[@john_hind]

I've just taken delivery of one of these (VERY happy, a superb machine!) and I can confirm that the memory is retained if one battery is removed, but is lost if both are removed simultaneously. A great improvement on the original since you can change the batteries without losing programming. However the manual warns not to switch the calculator on with only one battery fitted suggesting that the voltage drops below what is needed for the processor, but is sufficient for memory retention.

[@SteveSim99]

@@john_hind You could change the three watch batteries in the original version HP-15C without losing programming as well. You just had to be reasonably quick about it.

[@john_hind]

@@SteveSim99 I stand corrected (and jealous if you actually have one to try!). I guess it must have had a capacitor to hold power for a short time. Probably a moot point anyway since by all accounts with the legendary silicon on sapphire chip the batteries would last the whole of a typical professional career anyway!

[@SteveSim99]

@@john_hind You are correct, it had a small capacitor to keep the memory alive while you changed batteries. And given the power consumption, you probably could have taken a month or two to change them without memory loss:) I wish I had a HP-15C but I am not sure how much I would use it. I did buy an HP-11C in 1987 but sold it in 2001 for twice what I paid for it. It was still using the original batteries it came with.

[@keyboard_g]

15.2 mode I think is 15 X 2. It has double the registers 96 -> 192.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah I should have mentioned that.

[@lunam7249]

wow!!

[@anthonycolbourne4206]

Wow, it's impressive how much faster the new version of this calculator is compared to the original... amazing that things have changed that much even from something as simple as a calculator, and equally amazing that someone has taken the time and effort to offer the upgraded version for sale.

[@johan0234523]

I still have my old 11C, and I use a modern SwissMicros DM42 (plus Free42 on my phone). So it's tempting, but I can't really justify buying this one.

[@levent8208]

I still use mine, I bought it in 1985 when I was going to engineering school, RPN is the best !

[@CalculatorCulture]

That's great. They are so reliable. It will probably keep working for another 40 years.

[@levent8208]

@@CalculatorCulture 😅

[@cxt368]

Thanks for your video, as you aware, this are some bugs as found from the HP 15C Limited Edition, a new firmware has been released to solve the pause bug and others; however, a most important thing is that you need a transfer cable to connect between the computer and the calculator, without the said cable, it is no way to upgrade the firmware, but the connected point of calculator is 6 pins, it is hard to find out in the market and it is also impossible to tailor made without the details . Do you have any idea where or how to get one. Thanks for your help in advance.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Are you talking about the LE or the CE? As far as I’m aware, all of the known bugs from the LE, such as the pause issue, have been fixed in the CE. Yes the lack of availability of the cable for the LE to update the firmware was a big problem. Sorry I don’t know where or how to get one.

[@ozgurdemircioglu7433]

Thank you...

[@rolfbartikowski1836]

Would you please let me know, how I can remove or delete the message "Pr Error" from the screen of my HP 15C? At this time I am not able to use the calculator, as I do not know how to get rid of that message. Thank you, Rolf

[@CalculatorCulture]

PR Error indicates that the 15C has experienced a power failure, so I would try changing the batteries.

[@arysouza729]

bom dia, estacalculadora está a venda/ quantocusta?

[@theedspage]

I like using the 15.2 mode thanks to the expanded memory.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah it is interesting why they didn’t make it the default mode.

[@ArturoGarzaID]

How does this new one stack up against the 42s? Do you have a video comparing the two?

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah a comparison video is a great idea - I don't have one as of yet. In the meantime you can see a comparison of features here. www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-bin/compare.cgi?calc1=HP-15C&calc2=HP-42S&calc3=none&calc4=none&calc5=none&calc6=none&calc7=none&calc8=none

[@julioc4978]

I wonder how it compares to the 15C LE edition. Cheers

[@CalculatorCulture]

They are similar. The biggest difference is that the 15C CE has fixed the annoying PSE bug. The CE is also slightly faster and includes the hidden modes I talk about near the end of the video.

[@marais75012]

How long do the batteries last?

[@garyvaughan2648]

I would like to see the 16C

[@sergiog5543]

I want it but I'm from Mexico. The shipping service doesn't cover my country 😑

[@Markste-in]

best calculator ever!

[@CalculatorCulture]

A lot of people will agree with you.

[@larryroberts6052]

Anyone know when or if this will be available in North America?

[@CalculatorCulture]

I believe it has been available through Royals site below, although it is temporarily sold out right now. You can of course buy one via the Europe distributors and pay slightly extra shipping. hpofficesupply.com/product/hp-15c-calculator/

[@frankwc0o]

It is too bad that they didn't add more functions like normal distribution features, I know it can be programed, but would have been nice if it was built in.

[@CalculatorCulture]

I believe the goal was just to make a modern 15C. I’m really happy they did it.

[@garyvaughan2648]

The F and G keys look crooked on the 15c

[@dm319-j5y]

I feel like there may be enough momentum to bring out a modern school RPN calculator that is inexpensive and meets exam requirements. While this looks like a much wanted product, the name 'collectors edition' hints that RPN will die unless a new generation grow up with it.

[@AureliusR]

That's not a bad thing. RPN has all sorts of limitations and problems that RPN fans just can't admit. Algebraic entry is simpler, easier, and helps kids learn math and how to use calculators faster. If RPN was actually better then schools would have started using them a long time ago.

[@dm319-j5y]

@@AureliusR I disagree. RPN completely relies on your understanding of BODMAS, rather than the calculator, of which many implementations disagree. It is also quicker to figure out calculations on-the-fly, while viewing intermediate results.

[@AureliusR]

@@dm319-j5y Whether you disagree or not is beside the point, there are studies showing people find algebraic entry more intuitive and they understand BEDMAS just as well.

[@CalculatorCulture]

I love RPN but my feeling is it would be hard to complete with $30 calculators that support textbook-like equation entry.

[@dm319-j5y]

@@CalculatorCulture I don't think it'll be for everyone, but if an RPN calc can be made available for around $50-60, suitable for exam use, then at least it would be available for some kids.

[@ddelony1]

I wonder if the design of this calculator inspired the horizontal orientation of modern smartphone scientific calculators.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Quite possibly. Although there were others, the Voyagers are the most well known landscape format calculator.

[@lucasyew529]

Arrgh, the battery cover is screwed... >_

[@CalculatorCulture]

Interesting, in what way? I’d encourage you to send it back if you have a defect.

[@AnotherBuddha]

Hey just wondering if you were ever in Nuclear Power school? Your voice sounds so familiar to me.

[@CalculatorCulture]

I went to univeristy / college in New Zealand. 😀

[@AnotherBuddha]

@@CalculatorCulture Okay.👍

[@AnotherBuddha]

What is your all time favorite calculator? I would love to see what you say, my favorite calculator is the hp50g, what's yours?

[@betaorionis2164]

I got mine. The touch of the keys is cheap-ish and nothing comparable to the original. I guess the software is better, but is this really the point?

[@F16_viper_pilot]

Be greedy. Buy the new one for speed and the original for battery life.🙂

[@davedepagnier8601]

I loved my original 15C I bought in 1982, it got me through college and beyond but I wore it out years ago. It was bulletproof for two decades of use. I was very glad to see the collectors edition come out and I ordered one but quite frankly it's all but worthless because the keys are cheap and often result in double entries. I am constantly getting erroneous answers and as a result I just can't trust it and using it is wasting my time. In conclusion, this calculator sucks.

[@feiwong70]

I wish they ditch “Collector’s Edition” print. It just looks so tacky.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah there was a similar label on the Limited Edition.

[@lunam7249]

its lets you know you got the ARM PROCESSOR CORE AND YOU AN OLD G GANGSTA!!

[@emaeder18]

F and G look crooked...