HEWLETT PACKARD HP 12c Platinum

Description

Brand:	HEWLETT PACKARD
Model:	HP 12c Platinum
Type:	Programmable scientific/financial calculator
Pictures:
Batteries:	CR2032 x 1 (first version) CR2032 x 2 (second version)
Lifetime:	Introduced: 2003 (first version) Introduced: 2015 (second version) Terminated: Second edition still in production (last checked 2024-11-05)
Notes:	This calculator is one of HEWLETT PACKARD’s landscape series of calculators, named the HP Voyager series. Extremely (and I mean extremely) robust calculators and some of them were quite successful too. What I find really amazing about this calculator series is the design, which is actually quite timeless and very elegant. If one calculator series deserves a design award it’s this series. Only HEWLETT PACKARD can create heavy duty casing with such elegance. The calculators in this series are: HP 10C HP 11C HP 12C HP 12c Platinum (this one) HP 12c Platinum 25th Anniversary Edition HP 12C Platinum 30th Anniversary Edition HP 12c Prestige HP 15C HP 15C Limited Edition HP 15C Collector’s Edition HP 16C Shown here are the original hp 12c platinum (with a light keyboard) and the second version, the HP 12c Platinum which is still for sale as I write this in 2024. The first version was introduced as a faster more capable version of the HP 12C that was available in 2003. This is no longer true in 2024 since the current HP 12C is about 25 times faster than the hp 12c platinum! The HP 12c Platinum has 400 program steps, had more speed and (one has to question why) even features both the classic RPN mode RPN as well as NON-RPN mode ALG where the ENTER key turns into an = key. In the first version they forgot to add parenthesis making ALG mode particularly difficult to use. A revision introduced in 2005 does include parenthesis, as the g key variants of the STO and RCL keys. The second version has parenthesis as well. Later revisions of the second version from 2015 onward have a flash port hidden in the battery compartment. A special cable is available here on The Calculator Store (link validated 2024-11-05). The same cable can be used for the HP 15C Collector’s Edition. For more information on this beauty please refer to the better sources, like The Museum of HP Calculators (link validated 2024-01-13). The Hewlett-Packard Company Archives site also has some information on this calculator, see The HP 12C: A Best Seller (link validated 2024-01-13). An excellent overview by Eric Smith of al the hardware changes over time in this Voyager series can be found here on his website (link validated 2024-08-11) cached version here (just in case his server catches fire again).