HP 27S - HP's elegant "Do All" calculator from 1988

[@yamakawa511]

The HP 27S has been my daily drive for engineering calculations for the past 30 years. The HP Solver functionality is superb and very useful for repetitive calculations. I have yet to see a modern calculator with Solver implemented as effectively. The range of useful functions available from the keyboard is excellent as well as the number of memories. If it has a flaw it that the memory is volatile and if the batteries run out or you are too slow to change the batteries then all stored formulae are lost. many years ago I printed out my most useful formulae to an HP thermal printer and photocopied the output for the future but having to re-enter everything is a pain. Y

[@nmic-usa3949]

Best calculator ever. Agree with all your comments.

[@franzbear]

I have repaired and restored one of these, I wrote the details on the forum site "The Museum of HP Calculators"

[@LambdaHalbe]

Thank you. Didn't know about the 27s even though I have a couple of HP's (48SX, 32s, 42s and the newer 35s).

[@ijabbott63]

I love the 27S. If it had bit-wise logic operations to complement the base conversions, it would be the perfect all-rounder for me.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah, you could no doubt implement bitwise operations in the solver but they would only work with decimal numbers.

[@channelsixtysix066]

It's been done before, but just for fun I'm looking for ways to break into a Pioneer Series calculator without damaging the case. I have a 48-GX that will eventually need servicing.

[@hugoflores5806]

No manuals online?

[@channelsixtysix066]

@@hugoflores5806 - No actual manuals for servicing. It was never meant to be serviced, just thrown away. It isn't easy, since the "rivets" are underneath the aluminium face place. It is very thin and fragile. Getting that off without damaging it will be very difficult. Even after you do all that, the key pads are permanently fixed in place with melted points.

[@nolanngo2652]

@@channelsixtysix066 I just successfully opened mine, ended up drilling holes in the battery compartment, and RAM card slot where the rivets are, no visible damage once the covers are back on. The only other two ways are drilling through the faceplate from the front (very ugly), or removing the metal faceplate(will never look the same again). If you have an indonesian 48GX, those rivets might just pop off with some pressure, mine was not as lucky.

[@channelsixtysix066]

@@nolanngo2652 - Hi Nolan, yes, those rivets are comparatively easy to get to. It is the other ones that cause me concern. I don't like forcing things apart and there's no way I'm drilling holes in the front panel. I'm thinking of getting some non-working examples to try out on.

[@hugoflores5806]

@@channelsixtysix066 you could attach a drill bit to a pencil and drill it with that

[@jamzora]

Gracias por el video. Lastimosamente ya no funciona 3l link de uso avanzado.

[@batracio2]

Muy bonita esa calculadora. La hp 35s, debió haber tenido ese diseño.

[@thefenlanddefencesystem5080]

I love the pastel blue colour scheme on the 27S (and the 22S). Shame they're as rare as hens' teeth (especially in the UK) -- harder to find than a 42S.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah I've found the 27S, 21S and 22S seem to be quite hard to get hold of. They do come up from time to time on ebay though.

[@nmic-usa3949]

Love the 27S, I have 5 of them that I have acquired over the years.

[@michaelturner4457]

I suspect the "internals" is just one unmarked chinesium blob(COB assembly), just like most other heat-staked and glued together calculators that were never intended to be serviced.

[@CalculatorCulture]

There is a teardown of the 42S which has the same hardware here commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HP42S_Calculator_Internal_Teardown.jpg

[@john_hind]

Nice, though as always I get the impression that the purity of the vision was torpedoed by the marketing department! I would have lost the 'SCIENTIFIC' legend and the row of trig keys moving those to another soft menu. I'd also have lost the fixed shift functions of the soft keys to allow the shift functions to also be soft (with the legend adapting as you press the shift key). This way they could have had a completely multi-disciplinary machine with a smaller, even less cluttered presentation.

[@JosephRawsonWorks]

In had a 28s

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah they were quite different. I have another video about its predecessor the 28C.

[@betaorionis2164]

Not elegant if it is not RPN.