Customer Reviews

HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator, Silver

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

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+.

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!).

Problem 1: Right out of the box, I had problems with the #4 and to a lesser extent the #9 key. You could easily press down the #4 key so that it clicked, without the number registering. The work-around was to press the key extra hard.
Problem 2: After working with the calculator for about a week and entering a number of formulas in the 32M memory, I was unable to get the calculator to turn on one morning. I tried the "machine reset", which didn't help. According to the manual the next step was to do the reset on the back of the calculator. That did the trick - but then all of the formulas entered in memory were lost. During the next two weeks, that happened 3 more times. So, the 32M of memory was basically useless.
Problem 3: I found that after doing extensive TVM and Cash Flow calculations, the 1/x key result would not work correctly in chain calculations (RPN). So, for example pressing #3, #2, x, to get 6 and then pressing 1/x would return .5 instead of .16666. Tried this over and over with diff comps and got the same result. Turned the calculator off and then back on. Problem disappeared. This happened once more ... but the problem is hard to replicate.
Problem 4: When I called hpshopping.com to return the calculator, I was told that I would have to wait at the door all afternoon (1:00PM-6:PM) for fed ex to come out and pick up the calculator. ... No, just sending it back would not work. Unfortunately, my work doesn't allow me to wait around that long anywhere.
Conclusion: Get the old HP 17BII, which is much more robust and better quality. The new HP calculators (like the new HP 12C Platinum) are cheaply built and lack quality control.

I've owned many HP calculators over the years (started with an HP 45) and still regularly use an 11C and 12C purchased in the early 1980's. I've lusted after the older 17BII for several years and finally decided to purchase one only to find out it had been 'improved' and renamed the 17BII+. Unfortunately this new improved version is junk. It lasted 3 days and then wouldn't even turn on. The key's give you a tactile feedback 'click' but often don't record the number or function pressed.

I returned this calculator to the store where I purchased it and searched the internet for an older 17BII. I found one for about twice the money of the newer model but ordered it anyway. What a difference. The older version is solid as a rock and I expect it, along with my 11C and 12C, will outlast me.

The HP logo used to stand for quality. Based on my experinece with the 17BII+ and the reviews of the newly released 12C Platinum, the days of quality and dependibility are over.

This is the same version of the 17B, the only notable differences being a multilingual display, more memory and a semi-useless currency conversion feature. Too bad HP didn't see fit to implement a workable function for calculating the Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR). You still have to do it by hand and calculate the NPV and NFV for positive and negative cash flows, which is time consuming and error prone.

If you own the previous model you should feel no compulsion to upgrade. In fact, I wonder why HP even bothered to release this version. Just calling it an improvement doesn't make it so.

I bought the new 17BII+ as substitution to my 19B, which quit on me after 10+ years. Used to love HP's but these new models are a complete disappointment. The keys don't register, you have to press them down several times. So if you need something you can manipulate quickly, like the old HP, forget it. HP customer service also sucks... the machine would not turn on after a few uses. Took it back to the store 3 times, they fixed it in the beginning, but eventually they gave up. They would not exchange the product though, even being an authorized HP dealer. I had to fedex the machine on my own expense back to a technical assistance so that he could evaluate if the machine really had a problem, before replacing the machine. Two weeks after, they got back to me telling me the machine did not present any problem (sure... maybe the guys at the store and I just dreamt the machine could not be turned on...) and if I want my HP back I have to pay the FEDEX ... Unbelievable, but this is what HP has become. I'll probably stay away from any HP product for a long while, recommend the same if you don't want to waste your money.

My biggest issue with the 17BII+ is the one that apparently plagues other users as well. My first and sometimes second keystroke doesn't always register. It happens randomly and is a major problem for me. I've gone through four of these calculators and three of the four had the same problem. I kept returning them until I got one that works.

It's unfortunate. A calculator that can't calculate is useless. The company has/had a great reputation. They really should get their act together.

Purchased the HP17BII+ through Amazon at a fair price but found the calculator to be cheaply made. HP has in the past set the standard for quality and style but this is no longer the case. The quest for bigger profit margins over quality will soon kill the once fabled reputation of this firm.

My tried and true 5 year old 17BII was stolen recently and I had to replace it. I was surprised to find that HP no longer offered it for sale (big mistake; never take a classic of the market). As the new 17BII+ was my only option (absent tapping the used market) I gave it a shot. At first, the features made it look like an upgrade (currency converter, etc.) however, once I started using it I noticed one very major flaw: the new buttons simply do not work. They stick/don't connect resulting in approximately 20% of my keystrokes not registering. This calculator became so frustrating to use, I ended up trading it away to my unsuspecting office-mate for his banged-up, but still perfectly functioning 5 year old 17BII. Recommendation: buy a used 17BII (even an old one) instead of this thing.

This is my revised review after 1 year of using HP 17bii+. Here are my review:

- RPN & Menu-List Based Entry Method

- Nice and Clear LCD Display - Much better than old 17BII

- Fast computation speed!!

- Nicely built and good looking casing. The new leather pouch is a good addition.

- HP SOLVE: Very Useful and Powerful Tool for solving problem

Cons

- Lacks of Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) built in the CFLO Menu

- Small "ENTER" and "INPUT" Key

- Lacks of LET() and GET() function; even they're not essential to most users, but it's not convenient if you need to key-in your own formula in the calculator.

Conclusion:
It's a good upgrade to the old work horse 17BII even though the new 17bii+ has few drawbacks. I still give it a 5 Star Rating for the improvement.