Hewlett Packard HP-10C
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Hewlett Packard HP-10C
- Type: Programmable RPN Electronic Calculator
- Size: 3 x 5 inches / 8 x 13 cm
- Serial number: 2306A00975
- Date of Manufacture: February 1983
The 11C and 15C were very powerful calculators. But they were expensive. HP felt there was a need for a good sturdy calculator with a better price point. So they started by cutting back on one of the most expensive components in the machine (at least in the 1980s): memory. Halve the available RAM and ROM and you can, well not quite halve the cost but knocking off a third should be a big win, right? Well, after halving the available rom, you had to halve the available features. The result wasn't very fancy. The 10C is a competent performer, but the odds were that it was missing something you may have really needed. If you bought one in high school, you upgraded in college. If you were already in college, an 11C or 15C would have been worth the extra money. HP didn't make as many of these as they would have liked to.
10 registers share address space with 79 program steps (the first 9 steps are free, after that, you start eating registers). You could probably program hyperbolic trig functions and still have room for statistics. (UPDATE: Yes, you can.)
