the voyagers

I guess it's time for another HP post. I balanced the family checkbook last night (don't get me started). After the drudgery of checking off each of the items in the register, I used my 12C for actually calculating the balance and the subsequent deficit between how much I thought we had in our account and how much our bank thought we had in our account. OK, enough about the checking account.

I really like the voyagers. Unfortunately, the only one I have is a 12C. This particular model, perhaps more than any other, has stood the test of time. Launched 26 years ago, it is still in production. In fact, there is a 25-year anniversary model as well (introduced last year obviously--get yours now while they're still available).

For a quarter of a century, real estate professionals everywhere snapped up this calculator. I suspect that this was the most popular hp calculator ever because of its utility in this one industry.

I said I like the voyagers. I really would love to have one of each: 11C, 15C and 16C. Especially, the 16C. It is my favorite. I don't have one. But, I do have a 12C. Thank you, real estate.

The 12C has good basic financial tools, with some nifty features (e.g., date math, irr calculations, bond discounts/coupon rates, etc.), but its amortization calculations on they fly were so valuable to the real estate folks for 2+ decades that they were willing to learn RPN.

Of course cheaper calculators and spreadsheets now calculate amortizations just as well. I guess that's why used 12Cs are so easy to find. After 26 years, its still in production, though. I wonder how long it will last.