Hewlett Packard HP-19B/BII

Serial number 2951A15499: 1989, 51st week, America
Accessories None
Condition Very good but housing broken next to the battery latch.
Repairs

Acquired 2.1.2003
Accessory Manual: HP-19BII Financial Calculator Owner's Manual (English, 3rd edition, 11/1994)
Condition Bought new, still sealed
Acquired 13.1.2003

Serial number ID82200937: 1998, 22nd week, Indonesia
Accessories Manual: HP Business Consultant II. HP 19BII Financial Calculator Benutzerhandbuch (German, 1st edition, Dec 1989, 395 pages)
Condition Absolutely excellent!!
Repairs

Acquired 23.2.2004
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HP codename, series Tycoon (HP-19B), Champion/Clamshell
Type, Precision, Input mode Business, 12 BCD digits, exponent ±499, Algebraic
Programmable No, but a versatile solver is available.
Memory 6690 bytes free
Display 138x32 pixel black&white LCD, 23x4 characters
Special features Folding design, the top half can be flipped all the way to the back of the calculator.
Equation solver, statistics functions, calendar functions, appointment manager, textual database, and many financial functions. Infrared printer port, works with the HP Infrared Printer.
The newer unit supports RPN as well as algebraic entry. There's also support to swap the x- and y-register and to rotate down the 4-level stack. The MODES menu has an additional entry to switch between algebraic and RPN mode. Also, there is a new DEMO mode.
Original Pricing, Production HP-19B: 4.1.1988 - 1/1990, $175.
HP-19BII: 1/1990 - end 2002, $175
Batteries 3xN
Dimensions Length 15.9cm, Width 9.4cm (closed), 18.9cm (open) Height 1.8cm (closed)
Links Using Financial And Business Calculators (PDF, English, 73 pages, by L.J. Gitman, J. Madura, D.J. Borgia)
Using Financial And Business Calculators (a possible different version, PDF, English, 78 pages, by Daniel J. Borgia)
HP-27S, HP-19B Step-by-Step Solutions: Technical Applications (PDF, English, 56 pages, Nov 1988)
Manual: HP-19BII Financial Calculator Owner's Manual (PDF, English, 368 pages, 3rd edition dated 9/1992)
Comment HP's last Champion model. For a bug report see HP-17BII.
Whereas the HP-19BII is still sold frequently (as of 2003) the HP-19B is very hard to find anywhere.
Apparently, there were a number of different models:
  • An algebraic-only model.
  • An algebraic-only model with a different layout of the help text above the left keyboard, see here.
  • A combined algebraic & RPN model with "ENTER" printed below the "=" key, see here.
  • A combined algebraic & RPN model with "ENTER" printed below the "=" key and a different layout of the help text, (see above, 2nd unit).
Maybe there were two basic units (B/BII) with just two versions of the help texts: An English-only version for the US/UK market and one with language-setting instructions for the international market.
Note that the labelling is a bit confusing: All HP-19B/BII are labelled "Business Consultant II" in order to distinguish them from the HP-18C which was labelled "Business Consultant". Then there is the difference between HP-19B (algebraic only) and HP-19BII (algebraic plus RPN).
I don't know a way to have the HP-19BII display its software version number.
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