The PC Age has passed it by. So, why do I keep it?

I’ve had this calculator for at least 20 years, since the aftermarket little instruction book, which was newly published when I bought it, is copyright 1985. I couldn’t find any production date on the calculator, but it’s possible that I acquired it when I was in grad school (graduated in 1983).
I don’t remember what I paid for this but I do remember that it wasn’t cheap, while working for an organization that couldn’t compensate to market. The calculator was introduced in 1981. The main reason why I got this calculator is that it does a superior job on mortgage and time value of money calculations. I am sure that I had this and used it for calculations when my wife and I bought our home in 1986.

This calculator does a wonderful job of solving interest-related questions for the missing variable. Interest calculations are based on number of periods, interest rate per period, amount of payment, and one of the initial value (payment) or termination value, depending on whether it is a mortgage or an investment. By learning to use this calculator, I learned how to set up financial transactions to calculate interest and payments and the like.

If you have 3 of the four necessary variables, you can solve for the fourth and answer such questions as:

*How much is my payment for this value mortgage, this length and this interest rate?
*How much of a loan can I get based on this payment, this interest rate and this length of mortgage?
. *How much will this investment be worth in future dollars for these periods and this interest rate?

As you might imagine, these are important questions for a young couple embarking on a home purchase.

Prior to calculators like this and Excel, either larger computers had to be employed or tables found in the backs of accounting books had to be used, or even a bit of actuarial algebra might become necessary. This particular calculator put the ability to calculate these in one relatively simple and portable place. It also did a great job of dealing with mortgages/investments with sporadic payments or even no payments or more complex calculations of IRR (internal rate of return), odd initial time periods.

For this reason, it became popular among college and graduate students learning the time value of money and those are who I suspect continue to buy this product.

There are plenty of other functions here, including statistical functions in regressing data, such as mean, linear projection and weighted mean. It will also calculate depreciation expense using a choice of several methods. There is also an ability to program functions into the calculator, using 99 different steps. You can also use the calculator to store amounts in 99 different registers.

The keystrokes for interest-related calculations are straightforward, but for other calculations are a little cumbersome. For arithmetic functions, you have to enter the first number, press the enter button, then enter another number and the operation button after it. It’s manageable, but it takes some getting used to. This sort of notational approach is called RPN or reverse polish notation. It’s cumbersome until you use it a lot, but it is widely used in business even now, although more so 20 years ago. Like any notational system, when followed and understood it can be quite effective, I do not view that as a flaw. A current student might.

In the early to mid-80s, this was a big deal and plenty of power in a small place at a fairly modest price. Then came the personal computer and spreadsheets. When I first started using Lotus and Quattro Pro for interest calculations, I used this unit to verify that I was using the correct formulas, hence getting the same answers. As I migrated to Excel, I did the same thing, then not so often as I began to understand the Excel formulas.

Still, this unit is portable and reliable and I used it heavily while negotiating a refinanced loan a couple of years ago. Since then, not a whole lot, although it still has a place on my desk and I can’t bring myself to throw it away.

This unit is 3” by 5”, weighs 4 oz. and is powered by 3 AG13 (SR44) batteries, which are readily available at prices less than $1 each. I’m not using the calculator much now, but I don’t recall it being a battery hog. The unit feels sturdy and well made. The action of the keys inspires confidence. One thing I noticed is that the time spent waiting for a result, which felt speedy in the mid-80s now seems a bit slow in the new century. However, the delays are not inordinate. I’ve found that most calculations get done in seconds and even complex calculations take well under a minute.

There is great attention to detail, not only in the keys, but also in the gold stamped mini-instructions on the back, which have not worn one bit, to the rubber feet on the bottom that prevent the unit from slipping when the user inputs.

The HP Calculator Museum reports that there is a calculator out there that is still functioning on the original set of batteries after 22 years. That site also reports that this unit is HPs longest and best selling calculator and speculates that it is because of its robust ability to handle financial functions and conservative business tradition.

So maybe I’m keeping it as a souvenir of earlier times in my career. I really don’t use it much, although I would have no problem using it for compound interest calculations.

Would I buy it new, now? Probably not. Excel on a good desktop or laptop can do everything on this calculator and a whole lot more. I don’t need to relearn financial compound interest transactions after decades as an accountant. On the other hand, it might be worthwhile for accounting students, undergraduate and graduate and it certainly a good way to learn how to do financial calculations.

Thanks for reading. God bless!

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