I have purchased for myself, the HP17bII+ (call it 17B2+), a new toy, for work, leisure and experimentation during the X'mas holidays.
MY FIRST OUT OF BOX IMPRESSION,is sadly,that HP has really compromised the build quality of its financial/business calculator range by outsourcing its manufacturing to OEMs.
Cosmetically, the new sleek case design looks nice but its rubber-plastic(?) feel really softened up and "cheapened" the 17B2+ vis-a-vis its predecessor.
Although "product feel" is very subjective thing but I suppose every faithful HP calculator owner would tell HP that this is PARAMOUNT to their continued patronage of the HP financial calculator line.
The handsome leather-like carrying case which accompanies the HP17B+ package won't make it look as professional as the solidly built as the 17bII or the rival made TI BA2+ professional, nevertheless it is a welcomed bundle.
MAJOR HARDWARE IMPROVEMENT of the LCD DISPLAY is a welcomed upgrade, the new display is generous contrasty and clearly viewable from all angles. The other stated hardware improvement though hardly noticeable to the normal user is the upgrade of memory to 28k.
FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS include mainly the CURRX foreign exchange conversion function, it is the only nice to have addition, although experienced users would tell you that this is not really essential.
RPN MODE on the 17B2+ is IMHO not as good as the HP12c perhaps due to its vertical form factor and button design. The <enter> key is smaller than the HP12C/12c Platinum on the and also certain functions like power ^ has to be accessed via the shift key.
BUTTONs on the HP17b2+ are tacit but has a very "plastic" feel, it makes you question why the old HP17bII buttons were not retained.
HP SOLVE is still the best reason and a HP niche to retain HP 17bII users to this HP line of business calculators. Still, this is the best reason to buy the HP17b series.
ONLINE HP USER SUPPORT is IMHO the best in its class, [...] has most of the answers to your HP17b2+ questions.
OVERALL, the 17b2+ is an acceptable but rather unimpressive upgrade from HP, perhaps it is why it is not called HP17bIII or version 3.
This calculator is not "cheap" in dollar terms either. While HP had probably kept its' shareholders happy and executives fed while profiting from old proven product designs, it should, in my opinion, start to think hard on making us, their customers happier.
A young colleague of mine owns a minty 17bII but I doubt she would sell it, her dad had retired and had given his 17bII to her and that, is a testimony of how good the quality of HP calculators used to be.
Thank you for reading my user review of the HP 17b2+. HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator, Silver
Until a replacement for the HP19BII comes along, this is the best business calculator that can be purchased.
With over a year of near daily use, I remain very pleased with this calculator. I purchased the HP17BII+ despite the unusual number of negative reviews for this model prompted by my many years of experience with the HP19BII.
This is a solid, dependable calculator with intuitive features, unmatched ease of programming in a financial calculator and quality materials.
I've tested both Casio models and the TI business calculators; neither is able to measure up to the standards of the new HP17BII+ in terms of "feel" and ease of use. Anyone who recommends the TIBAII series - even the "Pro" - either has never used the HP17BII+ or believes that you will not be using your business calculator for real business.
The programmability - the ability to enter formulae into the calculator permanently and to solve for any variable is a boon to anyone. Want to run an ROI or break-even formula - just program it into the calculator and it'll be there for you whenever you need it. Need t do simple Chi-square, z-score or MIRR, just plug it in and you've got it at your fingertips. It is puzzling to me why HP does not trumpet the features of their calculators. TI cleans their clock in terms of store presence nearly everywhere - sluffing off calculators with fewer capabilities on generations of calculator buyers. As of this writing, there is no match for the HP17BII+ on the marketplace except PDAs with emulator packages.
The HP 17BII+ does essentially everything that the HP19BII did, but faster and in a smaller footprint. The HP 17BII's long life batteries are far more likely to be found in a store's battery section than those needed for the HP19BII and the extended memory will allow far more custom equations. It is regrettable that HP dropped the random number generator, but again, overall the best financial/business calculator one can buy today. Also - I've had no sticky keys, blank displays or erratic behavior of any kind.
Negatives: The alpha selection display is kind of cumbersome, but once you're done with the program entry, the lack of a separate alpha keyboard makes the calculator much less clunky.
The single line display (HP calls it two line because the bottom of the display contains the menu enunciators) makes it very difficult at first to enter longer programs - only one line at a time can be seen - making trouble shooting tedious.
The "On" key is the same height as the rest of the keys meaning it can be turned on simply by pushing on the case while the calculator is inside - while auto power off will shut off the calculator in ten minutes, one can only hope that you don't experience too many inadvertent power-ons so that your calculator runs out of power at just the wrong time.
Once again - a solid, pleasure of a calculator, and one I'd recommend to anyone in any circumstances who needs a quality programmable financial calculator (my belief is that once you've tried HP Solve on an HP calculator that you'll quickly say that you can't do without it!). - Mba - Finance Calculator - Hp Calculator - Calculator'
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