HP 10bII Financial Calculator

by HP

Product Details

Product Manual [5.23mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7 x 1 x 10 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005ATSO
• Item model number: F1902A#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (215 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #4 in Electronics > Office Electronics > Calculators > Financial & Business
  • #33 in Office Products > Office Supplies
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 2, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

If you need to keep up with your fast-paced business courses while working and planning for your career, invest in the HP 10BII business calculator. Featuring over 100 built-in functions for business, finance, mathematics, and statistics, the 10BII is an ideal calculator for business students who want to get ahead. Easily calculate loan payments, interest rates, amortization, discounted cash-flow analyses, TVM (loans, savings, and leasing), and more. Statistical analysis is cumulative, and you can figure standard deviation, mean, and weighted mean in addition to forecasts and the correlation coefficient. Cash-flow analysis is register based and has 15 functions.

The HP 10BII business calculator has an algebraic entry system and a logical and intuitive keyboard layout with easy-to-read labels. The LCD screen features up to 12 characters on one line of text. Small and sturdy, this calculator is easy to slip into your backpack or briefcase and bring to class or your workplace.

HP offers a one-year warranty on the 10BII.

What's in the Box
Calculator, user's manual, installed batteries, and carrying case

Product Description

The HP 10bII Financial Calculator features over 100 built-in functions for business, finance, mathematics, and statistics, the 10BII is an ideal calculator for business students who want to get ahead. Calculate loan payments, interest rates, amortization, discounted cash-flow analyses, TVM (loans, savings, and leasing), and more. Statistical analysis is cumulative, and you can figure standard deviation, mean, and weighted mean in addition to forecasts and the correlation coefficient. Cash-flow analysis is register based and has 15 functions. The HP 10BII business calculator has an algebraic entry system and a logical and intuitive keyboard layout with easy-to-read labels. The LCD screen features up to 12 characters on one line of text. Small and sturdy, this calculator is easy to slip into your backpack or briefcase and bring to class or your workplace. HP offers a one-year warranty on the 10BII.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

212 of 215 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Updated Version of the BEST FINANCIAL CALCULATOR, January 23, 2002

By 

Fritz-The-Cat (In The South, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP 10bII Financial Calculator (Office Product)

This new "II" version is a newer style of the older HP-10B, which will now go out of production. The new style has a smoother case and a more 21st century look, but the calculator and its functions are still the same.

I have used (and own) many of the available financial calculators on the market. I "recommend" the HP-10B to my university finance students, both graduate and undergraduate.

The HP 10B-II is a directly positioned competitor to the TI-BA-II+, but HP's entry is superior. The keys feel more solid, the machine itself "seems" better made. Having worn out more than one of each, my experience has been that the HP has more staying power. And, the TI-BA-II+ often requires more keystrokes to accomplish the same tasks (i.e., NPV calculations). ...

The HP 10BII has a well written manual, including examples on using the function. HP has the manual 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 this particular 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 this 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.

Ironically, even larger fancier calculators, such as the venerable HP-12C, are in my estimation inferior as well. The 12C uses RPN logic which, while saving even more 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.

Strongly recommended as the best value in inexpensive financial calculators.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adequate, even good, but certainly not the best ever., October 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: HP 10bII Financial Calculator (Office Product)

To be certain, this is a good calculator, and it is a decent value at this price, but not even HP would say it's the best ever.

I'd much rather be purchasing the HP 17BII - with it's expanded functions, but this will certainly do 95% or more of the financial functions I need it to do. The 17BII has some added features which admittedly are not requirements (Date, Time, Appointment) but I do strongly prefer the menu options on the 17BII and the programming function.

To address a couple concerns mentioned here:

1. Yes, the calculator will round .275 to .28 -- if you have it set to display only two digits right of the decimal. That's what it should do. You can, however, easily set the display to three digits or whatever degree of significant digits you wish.

2. I have checked interest rate calculations and all I ahve done work out fine. Perhaps the problem mentioned here has been addressed.

The 12C is a better, more capable calculator. But the 12C also requires one to learn RPN. Many people prefer not to use RPN. On the 10BII you can set it to work with "standard" data entry or RPN -- your choice.

The 19BII is also a better calculator, but it's large with a fold-out keypad (it opens like a book, standard looking calculator on the right, alphabetical keys on the left). It was also more expensive - close to $150 many years ago when I got one. Again, this is far more than people really need, which is probably why you can't find it on the HP website any longer.

Unfortunately, I can't find the 17BII on the HP website either. It appears that both the HP 17BII and the 19BII have been discontinued. I really found the 17BII to be the best in function and price combination.

As for quality, I think the reviews here are right. My old HPs are still going strong, but one 17BII I bought a year ago seemed light and less sturdy. Sure enough, it died recently, which is why I conducted a search for a replacement. (There are some refurbished ones availableso, but even that great calculator isn't worth that price.

So I've reluctantly purchased the 10BII. It feels light and cheap, but we'll see how it holds up. It uses two wafer-thin 1025 batteries v. three button batteries of the 17BII, so I'll change more frequently.

In summary, this is a strong, capable calculator, and probably one of your best bets at this point. It will almost certainly perform what you need it to do. Read the very user friendly instruction guide if in doubt. However, there are better options out there that can do even more if you're willing to learn a more complicated system (12C) or are fortunate enough to find the 17BII and pay the higher price.

Good luck.

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A compromise only, May 25, 2002

By 

Christina Borsum (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HP 10bII Financial Calculator (Office Product)

This calculator is now the most popular among Undergraduate Business Programs. And it is somewhat sufficient to solve textbook problems in introduction to accounting and finance. Functions can be easily explained to those classes. However, once you get into the real finance and investments your professor will want you to purchase the HP 12C instead. That one will be able to solve the more advanced and complex problems and all that more accurately. Once you move on to grad school there is no other option but the HP 12C - or an equivalent calculator by another manufacturer. And you will need that more advanced one at work, too - for all entry level analyst positions in finance and accounting. Unless you have already decided that the pre-requisites in finance and accounting will be the only time when you need a financial calculator, there is really no use to get accustomed to the HP 10B. You might as well purchase the more advanced calculator immediately (and save some money) although it is a little more difficult to use.