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Ask HN: Should there be new RPN calculators to replace the TI-84?

28 points idatum | 1 comments | 09 Mar 25 05:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.638s | source

I took an exam today where only TI calculators were available. I felt I was caught between some older models where the TI interface was not quite worked out.

And I don't see much progress then trying my daughter's TI-84.

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linguae ◴[09 Mar 25 12:58 UTC] No.43308722[source]▶
There are some RPN calculators from SwissMicros that are inspired by HP’s RPN calculators from the 1980s and 1990s:

https://www.swissmicros.com/products

There is also the HP-15c Collector’s Edition (I have one), which is still in stock: https://www.thecalculatorstore.com/c/hp15c

Two caveats:

1. These RPN calculators are not cheap.

2. Many standardized tests have lists of approved calculators, and it’s possible that the calculators I mentioned might not be on the list. TI has dominated the education market in the United States for the past few decades, and even during the heyday of HP’s RPN calculators, HP largely focused on engineers and other professionals rather than education. Thus, you may need to buy a TI calculator for exam purposes.

I love RPN calculators: I have a HP-48X that I bought used on eBay nearly 20 years ago when I was an undergrad, and my aforementioned HP-15c Collector’s Edition. However, these are collectibles for me; as a computer science professor I’m always in front of a computer, and thus I have access to the Unix dc command whenever I need an RPN calculator, and for more complex computations I have my choice of Excel and various programming languages.

replies(1): >>43354176 #
1. slowhand09 ◴[13 Mar 25 15:12 UTC] No.43354176[source]▶
I've long been a fan of HP Voyager series calculators. I used an HP-11c daily at work years ago. I still have it, an HP-15c, and and HP-12c. The 11c and 15c are both probably still on their 2nd set of batteries, after 40+ years.