The HP-15C is a high-end scientific programmable calculator of Hewlett-Packard's Voyager series produced between 1982 and 1989.
Models
HP-15C
The HP-15C is a high-end scientific pocket calculator with a root-solver and numerical integration. A member of Hewlett-Packard Voyager series of programmable calculators, it was produced between 1982 and 1989. The calculator is able to handle complex numbers and matrix operations. Although out of production, its popularity has led to high prices on the used market. The HP-15C was a replacement for the HP-34C. The 15C used bulk CMOS technology for its processor, resulting in very low power consumption.
HP 15C Limited Edition
After showing a prototype labelled "HP 15c+" at the HHC 2010, HP announced the HP 15C Limited Edition (NW250AA) on 1 September 2011. It is based on a flashable controller utilizing the same ARM7TDMI core already used in the 2008 revision of the 12C but in a different package, an Atmel AT91SAM7L128-AU running an emulator written by Cyrille de Brébisson to execute the old HP Nut code much faster than on the original hardware. The calculator was released alongside the HP 12c 30th Anniversary Edition. This model is powered by two CR2032 batteries, and can easily be differentiated from the original model by the "Limited Edition" script below the company logo as well as the black text on brushed metal back label, as opposed to the white text on black of the original. The power consumption of the processor is greater than that of the original HP-15C, as HP did not use the same technology in any of the future models.
HP 15C Collector’s Edition
In May 2023, a HP 15C Collector's Edition was announced and was released in July 2023 by the HP Development Company, L.P.'s licensees Moravia Consulting spol. s r.o. and Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. The calculator is manufactured in the Philippines. It supports up to 672 steps for programs and up to 99 registers. The initial firmware incorporates fixes for the known bugs from previous models (as shown below) and others; it is emulated on the same CPU as the 2015 and 2022 variants of the HP-12C, the Microchip ATSAM4LC2CA (ARM Cortex-M4). The calculator is also powered by two CR2032 batteries.
The test menu (Off, ) officially offers three choices. A fourth choice () is undocumented and permits to enter two hidden modes: "15.2" (more memory, but with some limitations like 8×8 inversion matrices and three-digit step number display) and "16" (emulating a HP-16C).
Bugs and problems
HP-15C: CHS stack lift bug (and fix) The non-responsive reset procedure documented in the 15C manual had the side effect of rotating the X register by 22 bits which could then be used to perform synthetic programming.
HP-15C Limited Edition:
One of the more significant bugs in the released firmware version (dated 2011-04-15 in the self-test) is that PSE only works once in a program and subsequently blanks the display until the program stops or is stopped. Downgrading the firmware resolves the PSE bug, however, other bugs will also be reintroduced. The original HP-15C self-test keystrokes do not work with the HP-15C LE and can corrupt memory contents. Although a new functional self-test procedure was added, the original manual did not document it.
HP-15C Collector's Edition: No known bugs in the officially supported "15" mode yet; the bugs above and others have been fixed in the firmware, or in the case of the nonfunctional self-test procedure, instructions to switch to the new self-test in the accompanying documentation. There are a number of bugs and shortcomings in the undocumented "15.2" and "16" modes.
Legacy
Emulators
An official PC emulator for the 15C is available as freeware from Hewlett-Packard. Another version is commercially available for Android and iOS devices.