MATHS Q : HP IIb Calculator vs Excel

[YeeWo]

Just watched Terry Smith's latest video reporting on the performance of Fundsmiths' Emerging Markets fund. In the presentation he mentioned making use of HP advanced calculators in the investment appraisal process. Does anybody else do this? I use Excel and enjoy plugging XIRR figures through to appraise where my investments "are". TS's words though make me think I may be missing something! What mathematical formulae and equipment do any other "fools" use? Thanks, in advance, for any insights........

[JMN2]

I used to have HP IIb, it is the model that flips open. I used to have bond pricing formulas etc in it as a backup, one could enter formulas and solve for variables. But I absolutely hated reverse Polish notation .

[AleisterCrowley]

I've got a HP12C Platinum on my Amazon wish list, just because it looks cool
I'm sure Excel could do everything I actually need.
It does look cool though...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-Calculator- ... c+platinum

[XFool]

But I absolutely hated reverse Polish notation .

Used nothing but RPN for years. Loved it, found anything else difficult to get to grips with but had to when HP calculator became unusable.

[Breelander]

Used nothing but RPN for years. Loved it, found anything else difficult to get to grips with but had to when HP calculator became unusable.

Enjoy...

RPN Scientific X is a scientific Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator based on the venerable Hewlett Packard 10C scientific calculator. It was designed especially for Windows 10, is free, does not contain any advertisements, and does not collect information about you, your computer or your phone. It performs all of the 10C’s scientific math functions. RPN Scientific X has a 100 level stack and supports ten store and recall memory locations. Results can be displayed with up to nine decimal places of accuracy. When used on a desktop or tablet, it includes a “tape” to show results of calculations. The tape can be copied or cleared.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/rpn-s ... verviewtab

[XFool]

Used nothing but RPN for years. Loved it, found anything else difficult to get to grips with but had to when HP calculator became unusable.

Enjoy...

RPN Scientific X is a scientific Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculator based on the venerable Hewlett Packard 10C scientific calculator. It was designed especially for Windows 10, is free, does not contain any advertisements, and does not collect information about you, your computer or your phone. It performs all of the 10C’s scientific math functions. RPN Scientific X has a 100 level stack and supports ten store and recall memory locations. Results can be displayed with up to nine decimal places of accuracy. When used on a desktop or tablet, it includes a “tape” to show results of calculations. The tape can be copied or cleared.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/rpn-s ... verviewtab

Thanks.

But

RPN Scientific X has a 100 level stack

What for? Realistically, for calculations, you really should only ever need a four level stack.

HP Museum

Damn. It says you need Windows 10. Well it would, it's from Microsoft.

[Breelander]

Damn. It says you need Windows 10. Well it would, it's from Microsoft.

No - it's a Modern Windows App and you get those from the Microsoft Store. There's a lot of 3rd-party apps there. This one is published by someone called Bill Crevier.

Do you have Windows 8.1? He has an app for that https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/rpn-s ... verviewtab

Or how about a Android phone? He has one for that too https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... rpn2&hl=en

This one from another author works on Windows 95 or later https://www.hpcalc.org/details/3687

[Breelander]

...it's from Microsoft.

Did you know that HP used to offer free official emulators of their calculators? They don't any more, but their download page is archived in the Wayback Machine and you can download them from there. The page is in French, but the emulators will install in English.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170917223 ... emulateurs

[JMN2]

I used to have HP IIb, it is the model that flips open. I used to have bond pricing formulas etc in it as a backup, one could enter formulas and solve for variables. But I absolutely hated reverse Polish notation .

After 20 years of service the plastic just disintegrated, and the numerous rubber bands couldn't keep it together. More popular model was the 10c or 12c, small sideways thingy, in every bond trader's survival kit.