HP calculators


HP calculators are various calculators manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard company over the years.
Their desktop models included the HP 9800 series, while their handheld models started with the HP-35. Their focus has been on high-end scientific, engineering and complex financial uses.

History

In the 1960s, Hewlett-Packard was becoming a diversified electronics company with product lines in electronic test equipment, scientific instrumentation, and medical electronics, and was just beginning its entry into computers. The corporation recognized two opportunities: it might be possible to automate the instrumentation that HP was producing, and HP's customer base were likely to buy a product that could replace the slide rules and adding machines that they were now using for computation.
With this in mind, HP built the HP 9100 desktop scientific calculator. This was a full-featured calculator that included not only standard "adding machine" functions but also powerful capabilities to handle floating-point numbers, trigonometric functions, logarithms, exponentiation, and square roots.
This new calculator was well received by the customer base, but William Hewlett saw additional opportunities if the desktop calculator could be made small enough to fit into his shirt pocket. He charged his engineers with this exact goal using the size of his shirt pocket as a guide. The result was the HP-35 calculator. This calculator provided functionality that was revolutionary for a pocket calculator at that time.
Through the years, HP released several calculators that varied in their mathematical capabilities, programmability, and I/O capabilities. Some of them could be used to control the instruments other Hewlett Packard divisions produced.

Characteristics

HP calculators are well known for their use of Reverse Polish Notation.
Programmable HP calculators allow users to create their own programs.

Calculators

Below are some of HP's handheld calculator models produced over the years, in numeric rather than chronological order:
ProductYearDescription
HP 9g2003Graphing calculator designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
HP 9sScientific calculator designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc., with the same form factor as the 9g and the 30S
HP-101977Basic four-function calculator with printer and conventional arithmetic entry.
HP-10B1987Financial calculator
HP-10C1982Range entry calculator, Scientific Programmable, statistical functions.
HP-11C1981Scientific Programmable, including hyperbolics, gamma function, statistical functions, and random number generation.
HP-10s2007A scientific calculator with more than 240 built-in functions, with 2 lines × 10 digits LCD.
HP-12C1981The finance-centric programmable calculator from the Voyager series introduced in the 1980s. The longest running product in the HP calculator line, it remains in production.
HP-15C1982Advanced Scientific Programmable, including hyperbolics, gamma function, combinatorial and statistical functions, random number generation, numerical integration, numerical root finding, plus comprehensive matrix operations and full support for complex numbers.
HP-16C1982Computer science programmable calculator that could perform binary arithmetic, base-conversion and boolean-logic functions.
HP-17B1988Financial calculator superseding the 12C, with two-line display, alphanumerics and sophisticated Solve functions rather than step programming. Uses the Saturn chip set.
HP-18C1986RPL clamshell business calculator.
HP-19B1988Financial calculator.
HP-19C1977Calculator with RPN and built-in thermal printer. Included a programming language with looping and branching.
HP 20b2008Financial calculator with RPN.
HP-20S1988A basic scientific calculator, using infix notation, barely programmable and with no graphing capabilities.
HP-211975Scaled-down HP-25.
HP-251975Smaller programmable model with programs up to 49 steps. Version HP-25C was first calculator with "continuous memory".
HP-27S1988The first HP pocket calculator to use algebraic notation only rather than RPN. It was a "do all" calculator that included algebraic solver like the HP-18C, statistical, probability and time/value of money calculations. It had approximately 7 kilobytes of programmable memory which could be used for formulas or notes. The two-push 6-key letter typing system was fairly fast after a learning period.
HP-28C1987RPN scientific graphing calculator. First HP graphing calculator, and introduced the Forth-like RPL, programmable keys, and symbolic equation solving, with 2 KB of user memory. Book-style design with keys on both interior halves.
HP-28S1988Expansion of HP-28C; 32 KB of user memory due to customers unexpectedly keeping programs in memory for extended periods. Introduced a file system for storing variables, functions, and user programs in the form of a multi-level tree. Like the HP-28C, this model used the "open-book" physical design. Functionally a direct predecessor to the HP-48 series, which returned to a more traditional physical design based on the HP-41.
HP-29C1977Programmable calculator with RPN. Included a programming language with looping and branching. An inexpensive variation on the 19C printer.
HP 30b2010Programmable Financial calculator released in 2010. Built in Black-Scholes Equation, FMRR and MIRR. Powered by ARM processor. Multiple input methods including RPN, chain algebraic, and normal.
HP 30s2000Calculator designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
HP-32E1978Scientific non-programmable
HP-32S1988Scientific programmable, updated to HP-32SII
HP 33s2003Calculator designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
HP-33C1978Scientific Programmable—successor to the HP25 and HP25C.
HP-34C1979Scientific Programmable calculator. First with integration and Root Finding.
HP-351972HP's first pocket calculator, and the world's first pocket calculator with transcendental functions. As such, it is regarded as the first "scientific" calculator.
HP 35s2007Introduced to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the HP-35, it is an advanced scientific programmable calculator, featuring algebraic and RPN modes, hyperbolics, statistics, numerical integration, numerical solver, random number generation, equations, and full programmability, using up to 32 Kb of RAM for programs and data.
HP 38G1995A simplified graphic model, using infix notation.
HP 39G2000A successor to the HP-38, using infix notation.
HP 39gs2006A successor to the HP-38G. It does not support RPN.
HP 39gII2011
HP 40G series2000A successor to the HP-38, using infix notation.
HP-41 series1979Three models in this series were released over its lifetime, the 41C, 41CV, and 41CX. The 41C had user configurable program steps and memory registers, alpha-numeric display, user programmable key mappings, and four expansion ports that could hold additional memory, an interface to HP-IL peripherals, a magnetic card reader–writer, or commercial application programs. The 41CV quintupled the amount of base memory, and the 41CX added a clock and some additional functions and memory.
HP-42S1988A non-expandable follow-up to the HP-41 series. It included a two line display and featured built-in matrix and complex number mathematics.
HP-451973Improved version of the HP-35 with 10 memory registers, extra functions and display format selection.
HP 48 series1990Programmable scientific, then later graphic model calculators, SX and GX versions had expansion slot. Based on the functionality of the HP-28S, but with a return to a traditional appearance. Historically one of the most popular models among engineers. Uses a filesystem first introduced on the HP-28S. Has a real-time clock and an operating system with programmable-action alarms, which could turn on the calculator and run arbitrary user programs at a user-specified time & frequency.
HP 49/50 series1999Enhanced, graphic versions of the HP 48 series. Later models designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
HP 50g2006The latest member of the HP 49 series. Faster, larger display, and ability to read/write removable SD memory cards.
HP-551975Lower cost version of the HP-65; no magnetic card reader, only 49 programming steps, but had 20 registers instead of just nine. Only model with an accurate stopwatch mode.
HP-64A small calculator with LED display.
HP-651974First programmable pocket calculator. Programs could be up to 100 steps in length and could be written to or read from magnetic strips.
HP-671976Improved version of the HP-65.
HP-71B1984Handheld model natively programmable in an extended BASIC language including a RAM-based filesystem, recursion, multiline user-defined functions and subprogram calling with parameter passing, but also capable of accepting plug-in ROM modules to provide such functionalities as full I/O capabilities to any type of device, programmability in other languages, advanced math capabilities, and an advanced Calculator Mode capable of executing algebraic expressions one step at a time and undoing individual steps.
HP-801973HP's second handheld calculator, designed for business and including functions for Time Value Of Money, Sum of Digits depreciation and similar.
HP-971977Desktop and printing version of the HP-67.
HP Prime2013A "smartphone competitor" with a -inch color touch screen, "apps", CAS and exam feature that allows both selection of RPN vs. Algebraic vs. textbook and exam format for use on the SAT. Includes several new features such as color graphing animation and wireless connectivity.

Simulators