Hewlett Packard HP-15C

Serial Number	(1) 2605A50461: 1986, 5th week, America
Accessories	HP-15C Handbuch "Fortgeschrittene Funktionen" (German)
	HP Journal May 1993: HP-15C Scientific Pocket Calculator Extends Range of Built-In Functions, bound printout from MoHPC CD-ROM
	Pouch
Condition	Acceptable, some ugly scratches on the alu front plate and near the "2" button
Acquired	2.7.2002

Serial Number	(2) 2441A94505: 1984, 41st week, America
Accessories	Pouch
Condition	Average. Many small sratches on the front on the aluminum plate and around the keys. A major scratch between the ENTER and 0 key. A small dent in the alu plate on the top edge near the middle of the display. Another one more to the right near the 15C logo. Many scratches on the back including the label "Mau".
Repairs	Calulator came arrived very dirty and needed quite a bit of cleaning.
Acquired	17.12.2002

Serial Number	CNA1320CTG, China
Accessories	Nice "crocodile finish" black cardboard box. Manual "hp 15c LIMITED EDITION Scientific Calculator Owner's Handbook" (English, 288 pages, (C) 2011, printed in China) "Errata Sheet to Self Tests (p261)" Warranty sheet CD-ROM "15c Scientific Calculator": Owner's Handbook and PC Emulator, (C) 2011 Pouch.
Condition	Mint out of the box
Repairs
Acquired	Bought new 30.1.2012

.

HP codename, series	"1.5", Voyager
Type, Precision, Input Mode	Scientific, 10 BCD digits, exponent ±99, Reverse Polish Notation
Programmable	Maximum 448 steps, program editing, numeric and symbolic labels, flags, ISG & DSE, subroutines, indirect GTO/GSB
Performance Index	Original HP-15C: 2.7 2012's new "Limited Edition": 195 AmeloConsulting HP-15C V3.2.2 on iPhone4: 485
Memory	67 registers, each can store a number or 7 bytes. Variable assignment to programs or registers. Registers are also needed for the complex stack, the solver and numerical integration. Permanent memory.
Limited Edition CPU	The small 6-pin serial connector on the back of the HP-15C Limit Edition (see picture above) looks suspiciously like the one found on the HP-30b. So there is some chance that the HP-15C uses a Atmel AT91SAM7L128 30 MHz processor as well.
Display	10 digit 7 segment LCD display plus sign and annunciators
Special features	Full support for complex numbers. Matrix operations. Root finding (solver). Numerical integration. Gamma function.
Original Pricing, Production	1.7.1982 ($135) - 1.1.1989 ($80). Limited Edition mid 2011 until now ($100)
Batteries	3x small button sized cells, 2x large button cells for the new "HP-15C Limited Edition"
Dimensions	Length 7.9cm, Width 12.9cm, Height 1.5cm
Local Links	HP-15C Owner's Handbook, Nov 1985 (PDF, English, 293 pages, black&white) HP-15C Owner's Handbook, June 1987 (Highres scan from the HP Support, English, 300 pages, 77 MByte, color) HP-15C Advanced Functions Handbook, Aug 1982 (PDF, English, 224 pages, black&white) HP-15C Advanced Functions Handbook, Aug 1982 (PDF, English, 224 pages, color) HP Journal, Scientific Pocket Calculator Extends Range of Built-In Functions, May 1985 (PDF) Quick Reference (PDF, English, 11 pages) Available Accessories. HP-15C Owner's Handbook (Edition 2.4, dated Sep 2011, 288 pages) HP-15C Owner's Handbook (Edition 2, dated May 2011, 288 pages. This version was shipped on a CD-ROM with the calculator)
External Links	hp15c.org. rpn-calc by Michael Steinmann, see his HP-15C plans in the Comment section below. HP-15C on German Wikipedia HP-15C emulator for Windows/Mac/Linuc from Torsten Manz (performance index 1.1)
Forensic Result	9.000417403
Comment	HP's last Voyager model. One of the ultimate best calculators ever made! Comes with a wealth of pre-programmed functions hardly seen in any other calculator, see special features above. Its programming model is similar to the HP-11C but offers more progam space, more labels, more flags etc.
HP-15c Limited Edition	Mid 2011: Michael Steinmann (rpn-calc) plans to have a HP-15C hardware clone (!) available by end of 2011. August 2011: Rumours surfaced that HP is going to produce a "limited edition" version of the HP-15C! This is of course great news but a sad end for Michael's ambitious project. Or maybe not, Michael announed a credit card sized version of the 15C called the DM-15CC. Not a bad idea! November 2011: A brandnew version of the HP-15C manual showed up on the HP support page. The calculator itself is listed for $99.99 but there are no links to actually purchase it. December 2011: The HP-15C is listed for purchase on HP's web site - but whenever I looked there it said "out of stock". Meanwhile, first units show up on ebay - way more expensive than a hundred dollars! Januar 31, 2012: The HP-15C is finally available, so I could order two units! Note: Recently (3/2012) I found note on www.finseth.com dated 9/2003 which suggests that HP all along has had plans to release a batch of 10,000 units for the 30th anniversary of the HP-15C.
	In 2/2012 the two new "Limited Edition" HP-15Cs finally arrived! The CD-ROM contained a HP-15C emulator for Windows which installed without problems (the quite lengthy registration code was printed on a label on the CD-ROM). The calculator's software apparently did not change: The number of registers stayed the same, as well as the "Forensic Result". But the speed did increase quite a bit, the new version is more than 70 times as fast as the old HP-15C!
	Apparently, there are some software differences between the classic HP-15C and the LE version. On the MoHPC you can find a list of bugs not present in the classic 15C. I tried some of the procedures mentioned there and apparently my units purchased in early 2012 still show these problems.
	September 2015: Michael Steinmann didn't give up on the DM15L clone of the HP-15C!!

Back To Contents