# HP 12-C Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929 "2006-06-08T18:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/1 "2006-06-08T18:12:49Z")
It was twenty years ago when I walked into the Universityof Wisconsin-Madison bookstore and purchased my HP 12-C. Ihad had no experince with Reverse Polish Notation, except getting frustrated by it on my friend’s calculator. Yet, that day in the bookstore there was a sale,and all my engineer friends loved theirs so I decided to get one. And it has been by my side ever since. It’s perfect size, sturdiness, silky and responsive buttons are wonderful. I get wistful when I see "running’ in the display. Regular entry on a regular calculator frustrates and angers me. Without my HP 12-C I get separation anxiety. It’s sad, but true. So all hail the greatest calulator mankind has ever known… [THE HP 12-C!!!]([www.hp.com/](http://www.hp.com/) calculators/financial/12c/) ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/2 "2006-06-08T18:15:42Z")
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**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/3 "2006-06-08T18:16:23Z")
I use a 12C, but I’d much rather get my hands on a [11C](http://www.vcalc.net/hp-11.htm) . Mine was run runover by a car years ago and I still miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/4 "2006-06-08T18:45:15Z")
> [@beowulf573](#): > > I use a 12C, but I’d much rather get my hands on a [11C](http://www.vcalc.net/hp-11.htm) . Mine was run runover by a car years ago and I still miss it. 11C owner here. Don’t even THINK about asking me to give it up. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/5 "2006-06-08T18:50:22Z")
> [@beowulf573](#): > > I use a 12C, but I’d much rather get my hands on a [11C](http://www.vcalc.net/hp-11.htm) . Mine was run runover by a car years ago and I still miss it. My parents got me a [11-C](http://www.hpmuseum.org/11c.jpg) for my eighteenth birthday. (That would be 24 years ago now) I’ve still got it and use it regularly. Just the other day I handed it to a roofing contractor so he could whip me out some numbers. I took perverse pride when he handed it back because he couldn’t find the ‘=’ key. :wally ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/6 "2006-06-08T18:53:02Z")
Poor **GO** , the 11C crowd have stolen his thread 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/7 "2006-06-08T18:57:48Z")
Wow, [11Cs still command a pretty penny on eBay](http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=hp+11c+calculator). There ya go **Beowolf** , grieve no more! ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/8 "2006-06-08T19:28:37Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Wow, [11Cs still command a pretty penny on eBay](http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=hp+11c+calculator). There ya go **Beowolf** , grieve no more! That’s strange… [This Auction](http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-11c-Calculator-Slip-Case-Manual-CD_W0QQitemZ9736362539QQcategoryZ58039QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) and [This Auction](http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-11c-Calculator-Slip-Case_W0QQitemZ9738366997QQcategoryZ58039QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) are nearly identical, just worded a little different and with some slightly different pics. Both sellers have 100% Positive Feedback, so probably not a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/9 "2006-06-08T20:48:44Z")
You are not alone, my tentacled friend. For verily I have my trusty 12C in my hot little hands. You know, my father, he was a great calculator-smith. When the 254-fingered man came and ask him to make a special calculator, my father took the jo…what! ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/10 "2006-06-09T02:11:00Z")
Gack, for $250 I’ll just stick with a 12C and bask in the memory of my 11C. A friend had a 28C in college. While riding on his scooter he was cut off by a dump truck and laid it over and the bike with his bag (and calculator) skidded underneath it. The scooter was crushed and the two halves of the caculator separated and the LCD panel crushed. The side with the power button and batteries still worked. If I remember correctly he sent a letter saying how much he loved his 28C with photos to HP and they sent him a new one. ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-12-c-appreciation-thread/359929/11 "2006-06-09T02:15:05Z")
As I typed that, I think I had my memories confused. His was crushed by the dump truck and mine had several buttons including “On” that stopped working.