WP 34S Calculator Review

A video review of the remarkable WP 34S, a community-based project based on the hardware of the HP 20B and 30B business calculators.
The video talks about the history of the project and walks through the basic usage of the calculator. It demos conversions, complex numbers, integer mode, matrix operations, and keystroke programming.
The video ends with a summary and talks about the WP 43S, the next evolution of the project that runs on SwissMicros DM42 hardware.
For more information about the WP 34S, check out the following links:
- sourceforge.net/projects/wp34s/
- • Building a WP 34S calc...
- h20331.www2.hp.com/hpsub/downl...
- h20331.www2.hp.com/hpsub/downl...
For more calculator videos, check out my channel / calculatorculture

[@kingofcotham9999]

Very interesting. I have heard of the WP 34S but was never too sure what it was about. Thank you for providing a very comprehensive explanation.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Glad you enjoyed it. It is a truly remarkable community based project.

[@mrbambix]

thanks for the thorough video, made me order one which should arrive next week. Was hoping for a 16c but they are going for too much money these days so i am hoping this will be able to fill that spot.

[@Treviscoe]

Good video, I'd like one of these.

[@samuelschwager]

Looking forward to the WP 43S video :)

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah i'll probably wait until it's in beta stage, might be a few years away.

[@phenanrithe]

@@CalculatorCulture There are already a few production prototypes being sold, so it may not be that far (see the Swissmicros forums). The simulator gives a good idea, though it's still not entirely stable and there are some important missing functions on the keyboard so it requires a lot of navigation through different menus.... another case of feature creep. It would need at least an extra row of keys, but there are some good ideas nevertheless.

[@phenanrithe]

This calculator has always fascinated me, it's the embodiment of feature creep. Makes it an overloaded keyboard and perhaps prone to bugs, though I've never tried to get one. Thanks for the review! (little tip if I may, you should try not to start each phrase with "and" 🙂)

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yeah they certainly packed in as many features as they possible and the WP31S would probably be a better product for a lot of people. Thanks for feedback on my voiceover, I'll try to keep an eye on that.

[@an1rb]

Do you know if it is possible to reprogram the HP-12B to one of the OSS versions of 12C or 15C?

[@MrWaalkman]

Mine dates from 2014 and the vinyl stickers have held up perfectly. I can't remember if this was the going price back in the day, but I got mine for $35 + $15 shipping. I seem to recall that it was a pretty good deal at the time.

[@CalculatorCulture]

Yes that's was a very good deal. Now they sell for $150-odd on ebay.

[@MrWaalkman]

@@CalculatorCulture I had it out and was playing with it the other day. :)

[@deannascott3475]

After you get the calc in binary or hex mode etc, how do you get it back to regular mode where it does not show the mode in decimal, binary or hex etc. back to it showing just a plain number.?

[@CalculatorCulture]

To switch out of integer mode you just use one the display format commands - ALL, FIX, SCI or ENG. For example [Green Shift], A, 9, ENTER.

[@rhymereason3449]

It's a beautiful calculator - it's a shame it's constrained by only 2k of memory and no way to import/export programs... THAT was the problem with the 42s. The search for the perfect calculator goes on...

[@fragglet]

It is at least possible to upgrade the RAM on the 42S. But yeah it certainly lost a lot of the connectivity and expandability of the 41 that preceded it

[@jeffroetman5132]

OK - I feel dumb...why does yours show the y register on the top line of the display and mine doesn't??

[@CalculatorCulture]

You might be in Integer mode? In Integer mode the top line displays the number format (2c) and word size. If so you can switch to decimal mode using the ALL, FIX or ENG commands. There is also a RESET command which is in the P.FCN menu which resets all modes to the startup values.

[@mgobluevictor]

@@CalculatorCulture Strange…I tried the reset function and it didn’t change. Should I be able to press 1 ENTER 2 and then see 1 in the top line? Maybe I have a different firmware version? VERS command shows 34S 3.3T 3844. Mine was modded to add the crystal and caps to enable timer operation and RTC.

[@CalculatorCulture]

I asked Paul Dale the developer. He said it could be the firmware version, or it may be you need to run the YDON command to turn the feature on.

[@mgobluevictor]

@@CalculatorCulture Bingo! YDON got it working. Apparently that is off by default.

[@pmccarthy001]

This is the only handheld calculator that I've ever seen that allows one to calculate in bases other than 2, 8, 10, and 16. Are there any other handheld calculators that allow one to calculate in bases other than 2, 8, 10, and 16?

[@CalculatorCulture]

I don’t know if any others. I’m curious about the applications of other bases, are there particular use cases you are interested in?

[@pmccarthy001]

In my case it's just esoteric, not utilitarian. I believe some would argue that it's instructive for educational motivations to see arithmetic operations performed in other bases perhaps. Additionally, I've heard it suggested that base 4 may have some utility in that it's 2^2, so it might help in operations with 2^1, 2^3, and 2^4. Further, bases 12, and 6, arguably, might have some advantages in performing basic arithmetic give divisibility by 3, and even 4, in base 12. However, for higher level maths those considerations are trivial.

[@pmccarthy001]

It appears that the WP43 also has this extended base functionality too. The WP43 can also handle all integral bases from 2 through 16 as well.

[@pmccarthy001]

It appears that the DB48X will also have this functionality... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoWYkq1oeK6WpM0 If that doesn't come through to the correct time mark, he starts talking about base 3 at 1:07:50.