I’ve been uncluttering the past few days, and the subject of Andy’s old HP 25 calculator came up. The calculator is about 40 years old and has a rechargeable battery pack that stopped working years ago. Andy kept saying he didn’t want to toss the calculator out, he was hoping eventually to get another pack for it.
Enlarged view of calculator.
Battery Pack
They don’t sell the packs anymore, of course, so I went to the internet, especially the Museum of HP Calculators, and learned how (1) to refurbish a pack with more modern batteries, (2) to build a new pack if we had lost the old one, and (3) where we could find replacement batteries if we still had the old pack. We decided to use the third method.
The article about the replacement batteries told us the website to use and the exact part number, but the article was 13 years old. Amazingly enough, the information was still good, so we placed our order.
As I’ve said before, I do love Google and the internet. And bless the people who shared the information we needed at the Museum of HP Calculators. How cool was that?
Yes, I too love my calculator. The make is Braun (Type 4835), cream coloured with its own sleeve, very very stylish. A present from father-of-son circa mid Eighties, so over thirty years old. I use it daily (several times), and it’s still working as it did when new. I think in all this time I only had to change the battery once. Unlike Andy’s it’s not a battery pack it’s one of those flat round coin shaped ones (3 V) you can get anywhere.
Funny, isn’t it, the attachment we feel for some “things”. I’d be heartbroken if, for whatever reason, we were separated for good. Maybe my son can bury me with it. You never know: Might come in useful in eternity.
U
Replaceable batteries make a lot more sense, but HP was on a learning curve at the time.
Andy gave Kaitlin and me HP15C‘s for Christmas about 30 years ago. I liked it so much I ordered one at work. When I retired 22 years ago I passed it on to a colleague. When we had a group reunion 5 years ago he thanked me and said he was still using it.
Amazon is offering new, limited-edition ones for $749.99. That tickles me. Way more than it’s worth, no doubt, but mine’s still going strong and I love it.
Surprising that after all these years, you were able to get it functioning again. I have a calculator that is about ten years old but it charges its battery by light power and it is still functional.
As I told Ursula, I have one with replaceable batteries that’s over 30 years old and still works. Some of them are well made.
I tried to sell, the common/garden scientific calculator and in the end I gifted it to my teenage great nephew, as I know he didn’t have one – I had used it for one semester at University but it was just too good to just send off to who knows where…
I’m with you. I like to give things like that to people I know will appreciate them.
I have a calculator NOW.
I didn’t before.
But there’s one on my iPhone.
I used it at the store all the time.
Mainly to calculate the best price on cat litter.
😉
xo
I mostly use the one on my computer. But if I need to add up a string of numbers I use the one on my iPad because it shows all the things I’ve entered. I can check that I didn’t make a typo. That’s a godsend for people like me!