Do you own a HP-12C financial calculator?

I've been using a 12C since the late 1980's I guess. Lost the first one, bought another about 1993 which I still use today. Great calculator, but I don't use it for trading. I've used it to figure mortgages, and probably would be a good bond calculator but I'm not into bonds. Good financial calculator. It's on my desk at all times.

OldTrader

 

Just realized that none of us really answered your original question.

The advantages from using a 12c in trading are:

1) Rapid access - sure, you can use a 12c emulator, the calculator software on your PC or cell phone or PDA, or even a regular cheapo calculator. But I've found that the 12c works best in those hurry-up-and-figure-out-how-many-shares-to-buy-right -now or oh-man-I-need-to-know-where-to-put-my-stop-now situations. While staring at my trading screen, I can simply reach over, grab my 12c, punch in some numbers, and get the answer I need, usually in less than 3 seconds from hitting the ON button.

It's the RPN, I think, that is the advantage because it is closer to how a person thinks. I always find that I have to pre-plan how an algebraic calculation should be ordered in order to use a scientific or algebraic business calculator. With RPN, I just start typing, and a complex sequence of parenthetically-ordered operations usually can be executed "linearly." I don't have to think much further ahead than the next keypress.

2) Portability and discrete access - one of the best things about the 12c is that it's NOT software. I've used RPN emulators on my trading PC, and aside from the clunky data entry and having to make sure I'm typing into the right window at the right time, it's just easier to grab a totally separate device whose only function is to make calculations (ever get interrupted by a phone call on your Treo while using the calculator?). And it's so much better than a PDA-based RPN calculator because of the discrete, distinctly-shaped buttons rather than software buttons. And, the 12c is just the right size and shape to be either a desk fixture or a constant travel companion.

3) Build and tactile feedback - this is one great advantage of HP and TI's high-end calculators over the cheaper Casio and Sharp ones. The gold 12c feels solid and substantial, especially the USA-made ones. It has a heft that makes it feel tough, and the buttons click nicely when you press them. It's like the difference between driving a nice BMW 530i and a little Civic--sure, a cheap calculator will get the job done, but it just won't be as luxurious.

 

what is RPN? and i still dont get it

 

RPN = Reverse Polish Notation.

RPN is a parenthesis free way of writing algebraic expressions, which was
first invented by the logician: Jan Łukasiewicz. So for example the expression
(w+x) / (y - z) would be written in reverse polish notation as: wx+yz-/. The
operands (wx) precede the operator +, hence it's called reverse notation
and Łukasiewicz was Polish so ...

The point for calculators is that this notation makes it a lot
easier to evaluate complicated numerical expressions and reduces the number of
keystrokes you need.

The HP calculators have a small internal memory stack, which implements
the RPN algorithm, and an [enter] key which pushes values you type into the
keyboard onto the stack. Operations like + , - , x, / work on the first two
entries on the stack, and you just press the [+] key to add them, for example.

There are other special keys for moving values around on the stack, too.

This may sound complicated, but it is actually much simpler and faster to use
once you get used to it than the algebraic notation calculators with
parentheses and equals keys.

So for example on an HP to calculate the value of:

(3.2 * (2 + 3)) / (1 + (4*(5+6)))

you could just type [3.2] [enter] [2] [enter] [3] [+] [*] [5] [enter] [6] [+] [4] [*] [/].

Once you learn it, you never want to switch back to a calculator that
doesn't use RPN ... at least I never wanted to

dchang0:

Great summary of the features that made the HP calculators something
special. RPN is much superior to algebraic notation, and it was the main thing
that made the HP hand-helds superior to TI from my point of view.

The only thing I think you left out was that the old HPs were programmable,
which was something special in the days before PCs, when you still had to line
up for access to a mainframe.

I still have an old 11C, which was the scientific version of the 12C.

http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp11c.htm

This particular model was well-liked enough that it's become sort of a cult
item. I've seen them selling for > $400 on ebay. Even with damage they're
offered at prices upward of $200.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-HP-11C-...1QQcmdZViewItem

The only way they're going to get mine, though, is from my cold dead hands

 

I own 3 12c's and have used the 12c for over 20 years - ever since I was given my first one as a rooky banker at Swiss Bank Corporation. I could not live without the thing, so I have to keep one in London, one in Switzerland and a spare to carry around.

I was gutted to hear that they had stopped producing it - just in case mine gives out. Or is it still made?

The 12c also has the advantage that my wife and son have never taken the trouble to learn how to use it..............so it doesn't get pinched, as most of my other equipment does on a regular basis.

Happily, comrade Horribilicus reports that there is an even better version still in production. Hurrah!

 

I've got an HP 19BII my ex bought me for xmas in the mid to late 80's. My dad taught me to use a programmable HP back before PC's were readily available. The programs were on very small magnetic strips. They are not the cheapest calculators but they are very good ones.

 

FYI, the 12c Platinum was neither designed, or built by HP.

 

I still have the my dad gave me - it survived both under & over-grad!
Once I learned how to use it, it worked better for me under most circumstances (the one caveat is it's slow in calculating YTM).

Brent