Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The only one calculator you'll ever need
Why would you buy a 1980's calculator? Because it provides the best combination of form and function.While other calculators have gone high-end and become curiosities of mathematics and graphics, HP's customers do not want to let go of the 12-C, despite the fact that HP has more powerful calculators at a slightly larger price. Here's why I think: Just the right set of features. The average Joe using a financial calculator needs no more than the HP-12C provides. Sturdy and strong. The keys have a wonderful feel. Fits in a shirt pocket. Very reliable. They've had two decades to iron out any bugs. Large user base. Most financial courses will use this as the calculator of choice Buy this calculator, if you need a financial calculator. You will not regret it -- I daresay that it will still be around when your kids need their own calculators.
Rating:  - Not the best HP for the Money
I have used (and own) many of the available financial calculators on the market. I own and occasionally use a Hewlett-Packard 12C, but would "recommend" the HP-10B to my university finance students, both graduate and undergraduate, as well as to finance professionals. For non-professionals or for just run-of-the-mill arithmetic calculations there is no question, this is too much calculator.HP makes the best products on the market for financial calculators; better than TI's and far superior to the Casio. The HP 12C is an older (ca. 1980's) model calculator which was a directly positioned competitor to the TI MBA, but HP's entry was far superior. The keys feel more solid, the machine itself "seems" better made, and the replaceable batteries were much better and lighter than the TI's rechargeable. So, TI gave up on this competition. Now, HP has cannibalized its own line with a superior product at a lower cost. Having worn out more than one of each, my experience has been that the HP 10B offers everything needed for the serious finance student, at just over half the price. The HP 10B, as well the 12C, have well written manual manuals, including examples on using the functions. HP has the manuals available on-line on their website for the inevitable time that the user needs it and has lost the original. While there are cheaper financial calculators, it seems that the HP 10B level is the minimum I would recommend to professionals or students. Less expensive versions, while saving a few dollars, miss important features. As a general rule of thumb, if the calculator can perform the "IRR" function, as the the 12C and 10B can, it will be able to handle pretty much any calculation into which the finance student, professonal, or banker will run. Lesser machines do not have this function, which enables analysis of variable cash flows. Ironically, the larger fancier calculators, such as the venerable HP-12C, are in my estimation inferior. The 12C uses RPN logic which, while saving keystrokes, is simply foreign to most students. More importantly, some functions, such as the Time Value of Money functions, on the 12C require interpretation. On the 12C, for example, solving for the number of periods in an annuity, the value gets rounded UP to the next integer. While the 12C is a very powerful machine, and certainly deserves some points for "style," it is not the best value in financial calculators. It may be time, after almost 30 years, to relegate this one to the museum in favor of its more powerful and less expensive cousins.
Rating: - Every MBA student and grad should get one
While I don't have an MBA, it's hard to believe that a calculator I learned how to use in 1987 during undergraduate business courses is still the standard for the quick calculating financial world. Any finance professional over 30 will know how to use this, and in a pinch, you might need to know how to use it. I know the TI-8x series has financial functions and the graphic capabilities may make those calculators worthwhile. But for most financial pros, if it can't be done on an HP12C, then you probably need a computer.The RPN system isn't hard to learn (at a basic level it works similar to an adding machine), and the functions on this calculator take input and spit out output in a way similar to Excel (i.e. negative numbers for payments and positive for future value, etc.). I found mine the other day after not using it for a while and immediately used it for a discounted cash flow quick analysis I was later planning to do in Excel. It told me the on-the-fly answer I needed.
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