With the HP 17BII financial calculator, you can perform more than 250 business and statistical functions from wherever you happen to be. You can calculate loan payments, amortization, interest rates and conversion, internal rate of return, net present value, bond price and yield, depreciation, and percentages, to name only a few.
The bottom line on the two-line display shows the menu labels for the five major menus in the calculator: Financial, Business Percentages, Statistics, Time Manager, and Equation Solver. The menu keys allow you to shift between functions. The top line shows the numbers or letters you enter and the resulting calculation. Each menu has subfunctions and built-in variables for greater complexity. A beeper sounds when you press the wrong key, when an error occurs, or when you are late for an appointment.
The HP 17BII has 8,000 total bytes in RAM (6,750 bytes plus 1,250 for your built-in variables). You can monitor the available memory (both in bytes and percentages) by pressing shift-MEM. The calculator retains current functions until you press "clear data." If you accidentally shut the machine off, just turn it back on and your calculation will reappear. After 10 minutes of nonuse the calculator turns itself off, but your most recent information will still be there.
The HP financial calculator interfaces with an HP infrared printer (sold separately), allowing you to print tables, lists, and payment schedules whether you are--in a meeting or on an airplane.
A protective cover is included to keep your calculator dust-free. Batteries are already loaded, and the calculator is backed by a limited one-year warranty. --Dana Van Nest
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: HP18's Algebra mode: No precedence for multiplication/division over Addition/Substraction Comment: I bought this calculator on the basis of good review here.
True, most of the good things mentioned in reviews here are indeed true but I found out one major flaw in the "algebra mode"
for this calculator.
In the past, I have avoided HP calculators becuase HP insists on RPN. So I was happy to have an HP calculator with both algebra and RPN until I found out about "Algebra mode" in this calculator.
In other algebra calculators, it is clear that the following is true:
3 + 4 * 5 = 23
But HP 18 gives me the following result:
3 + 4 * 5 = 35
In other words, it is not algebra, in the sense that is taught in the school.
Customer Rating: Summary: I wish HP would re-issue this calculator Comment: After the classic HP12C, this is the best financial calculator they ever made. My old one hasn't worn out, but I bought a NIB replacement at auction for when it does. This has all the functionality of the more cumbersom 19B, but in a better designed handheld size. I love my 12C, but this is the calculator I wish I had in grad school. The keys are fantastic, the menus are logical and fluid, the case is super rugged, and it is just all around excellent. I'm a messy klutz and have dropped mine and sat on it dozens of times and it still works like a the day I turned it on. I wish HP would re-issue it. Customer Rating: Summary: Love it, but no Trigonometric Functions Comment: Super durable and reliable: I've had this calculator since 1992, I used it for my BA and my MSc. It has outlasted 4 laptops.
Batteries last a long time, but keep more handy. It uses LR44 (Maxell) equivalent to LR44H, L1154, A76, V13GA, LR44, AG13, PX76A, 675A, 303, G13A. 11.6x5.4 mm Size equivalent to 357, 303, SR44, S1154.
PLEASE NOTE: If you need Trigonometric Functions, this calculator is NOT for you. Customer Rating: Summary: OK until the keys quit Comment: Great calculator, and HP's excellent manual does the job. HOWEVER, it should last. The early HP25 could be dropped off the table, and I still have one - unfortunately the battery died, or it would be active still. The operator keys stopped working on my 17BII. Power came on, self-test wouldn't test, and the operator(+ - x, etc. ) had no effect. People should buy HP calculators because they work well, they are well documented and they LAST. No matter how marvelous a calculator is, if the keys don't work, it is less than a paperweight.Charles Elliott Customer Rating: Summary: The best financial calculator around Comment: Nothing else even comes close. None of that annoying 5 minute wait like the 12c while you stare at a screen that says "running". Also, the 17b2+ has been visually cheapened (cheap plastic, rather than the metal-like cover). This is the banking gold standard. Easy to use and very intuitive.
