I had occasion to use my HP 41CX calculator today. What a brilliant piece of technology! It’s almost 30 years old and still looks & works like new.
I can’t think of any other technology I own that has been as trouble-free as this device. On the opposite end of the spectrum are print cartridges, including those from HP. A friend of mine is a print cartridge reseller and printer repairman. He insists that print cartridges were very much reengineered to fail sooner than they need to, falling under the category of planned obsolescence. Incidentally, in case you’ve never seen it before, this chart of the cost of various liquids is fascinating.
Open Question: Are there any items you own that have surprised you in terms of how much longer than expected they’ve lasted or how much quicker than expected they’ve broken?
I have an HP14B acquired in 1990, never let me down. My boys still use my TI55 (1981). Great post Robert!
still have and working
1979 Ford Bronco 650,000km 2nd rear end, 2nd gas tank
HP 25
Hp 67
Hp 97
HP 41CV with card reader and printer
HP 386 GSX
1980 Wilde T16 self leveling transi tw/DL4 distomat
1961 Austin-Healy 3000 2nd rear end, rebuilt carbs, purchased in 1976
1995 Honda 300 4trax, bullet proof
some tonka trucks from the ’60’s
The first computers we got in the artillery to replace mechanical plotters were HP14’s with expanded memories. the plotters were faster for current missions, but the computers allowed for all previous target records to be quickly updated.
Heh. I still have a generation-one digital hand-held calculator,with some sort of lighted number display (I think too early for LED) that was so primitive that it didn’t have a floating decimal point. So if you tried to divide nine by two the answer was four. Too funny.
But it still works.
But that one didn’t replace the slide rule (I still have my slide rule but I think I have forgotten how to use it). Heh.
Sharp EL-509D calculator still on original batteries and still works.
Still got my sliderule from high school 😉
Have a Canon F-500, had it for some 20 years. Works as if bought yesterday.
Had a better one, though those familiar with sons would know that son would want the better one. Don’t think the son still has it, though I still use the Canon F-500 he gave in trade.
The most curious thing about it is, never ever changed batteries L1131, VINNIC, ALCALINE CELL. In 20 or so years.
I had a TI-SR-52 when I was an EE student in the 70’s; thought it was great, loved it especially for its ability to do polar/rectangular conversions. Never had a problem with it, despite numerous drops, etc.
Worst product(s): any version of Windows until XP Service Pack 2. Constant crashes, lost work, etc., while my entirely trustworthy Mac had to sit at home because every company I worked for was an all IBM shop.
Also, my 1975 Honda Civic. In the first 100,000 km, the paint peeled off, the transmission went, and a piston rod broke and punched a hole in the engine block. At the time, they only offered a 50,000 km warranty; all my problems occurred after that. Years later, I found out that Honda offered a “secret warranty” program – if you bitched long and loud enough, they would take care of you. I will never buy a Honda anything again.
My 03 Dodge Ram p/u (yeah, it’s got a Hemi) is at 280K on the original spark plugs. Beyond basic maintenance, it has needed but 1 actual repair- A/C condenser fan. With new brake pads and rotors, it’s probably good for another couple hundred km.
When I was a machinist, I spent several years running a Yamazaki Machine Tools (forerunner of todays’ Mazak) 24″ x 120″ lathe. That machine is still in use today and worth more than what they paid for it brand new back in the early 1970’s.
I had a Magnavox 386 computer. Never a problem, never a fault for 10 years. Till I gave it away.
For all I know its still crunching away.
pair of swiss climbing boots (Rachide?) still climbing 30 years later.
Steyr AUG, 4000+ rds later, still shooting well.
Any of my Bahco wrenches.
Commodore 64 monitor that still does duty as a TV in the guest room.
I’ve got a Trash 80 around here somewhere. It still fires up but don’t have the tapedeck for storage. I just save it because it’s old.
I found a bottle of eye drops that cost $10,600 per gallon. It contained basically the same ingredients as gasoline.
I still have a functional TI-36 solar calculator that works as good as new and has never needed a battery.
I’ve owned an HP-41CV, HP-67, HP-28S and two HP-11c.
Great calculators.
My old TI during 80’s nuke school died years ago, so worn out you couldn’t read the major buttons any longer. The good old days…
My parents still use the electric carving knife they received as a wedding gift in 1977.
I have two 1990 VW Jetta Turbo Diesels with 435000 and 498000 kms on the clock. Both run exceptionally well and only one had to have a head gasket replaced. Otherwise they still have loads of power and everything else works like new. Best bloody cars ever built IMHO, and I worked on diesel trucks for a living for 35 years. Also, someone said Simonize pressure washers were crap. Not so fast. I have one that is 6 years old and still works well. Only paid 150 bucks for it at crappy tire. I also have a 1940’s vintage coleman stove that has out lasted several newer ones. I have a 1965 9 1/2 hp Johnson Seahorse that still putts along nicely. That thing must have 10’000 hours on it at least.
Still got my original 42s and use it every day. Bullet proof.
I can’t think of any other technology I own that has been as trouble-free as this device.
My Post Versalog slide-rule, as well as a number of device-specific circular ‘slide-rules’ have been way more trouble-free than any calculator I ever owned. The plastic circular ‘slide-rules’ even work when soaking wet.
My slide rule still works fine and has never needed a battery. It’s been dropped.kicked, dumped in the lake, rained on and left in the trunk in a -30 cold snap – still has the same accuracy.
Sun Hemmi (made in occupied Japan) #1447 bamboo slide rule. Still looks brand new, and it is part of my ‘Restart the World’ kit.
Sun Hemmi (made in occupied Japan) #1447 bamboo slide rule. And it still looks brand new.
cheap hand tools from Princess Auto-don’t bother
slide-RULZ
AR belt drive turntable (33/45rpm)-spin em!
Bought my HP28S 22 years ago, still in use, still works fine.
Worst car was an old Chrysler. It seemed that every oil change required another $500 of work on the car.
Spin em good…
Circa 1966 GE electric heater with the radiant reflector, Works like new!
Best?
1946 Ford 2N tractor. Converted to 12 volt Chevy electrical system. Best, and simplest machine ever.
Next to the Lee Enfield rifle and Cooey .22, of course.
Worst?
’96 Mercury Sable. And the stupid bread machine sitting on the counter right now, ruining perfectly good white flour…
Mr. Drylander at November 10, 2011 12:39 AM
…does it run on windmill..?
HP OfficeJet T45 Printer; over 11 years old, and still working great. Windows 7 doesn’t have drivers for it, but it can be hacked with a bit of work.
And my good old TI SR-50A from 1975, bought for $195 in NYC (electronics were cheaper there at that time) and still running, although I’ve had to redo the batteries twice. The college required incoming freshmen to have calculators for the first time that year; the exams were all timed based on calculators rather than slide rules.
But for “electrical” (not “electronic”) and old, I’ve got a 1909 General Railway Signal thermal timer relay, which was used as part of the signal controls on the New York Central. Over 100 years, and it still works perectly.
I just drooled over one of those in college and stuck to my slide rule.
’86 Hyundai Pony don’t know how many times it’s rolled over.
’83 and ’85 Mercedes 300TD and 300SD cars, which were the last of the hand-built German Mercedes. Anything newer is a Chrysler, some of which I’ve seen come with factory orange-peel in the paintwork.
1999 IBM T-40 Thinkpad. The last of the US made IBM notebooks. Still going strong and has outlived a Toshiba and an Acer.
1984? IBM 5150 (IBM Personal Computer/XT)… not useful for much but still boots up and works just fine.
On the other side, any inkjet printer or electronic gadget currently sold at Staples.
12V DC air compressors sold for inflating tires on a car. I have now seen four of them set themselves on fire. Literally.
Walking down the aisles of my local Crappy Tire I am always reminded of what happened in the USSR. Socialism is all about production production production. The only thing that matters to politicians is jobs jobs jobs, so eventually the goods produced are worth less than the materials used to make them. I think we reached that point ourselves a couple of years ago.
Open Question: Are there any items you own that have surprised you in terms of how much longer than expected they’ve lasted or how much quicker than expected they’ve broken?
Posted by Robert at 4:41 PM| Comments (81)
One doesn’t have to exclude the other. I mean, McGuinty has been broken and useless from day 1 but he’s into his third term.
4020 John Deere
I’ve seen plenty of these tractors, all over 40 years old, still sell for over $10,000 at spring auctions, esp if they have a good loader on them. And considering they get the toughest lot, that of the year round chore tractor, they are simply amazing.
Posted by: Derek at November 9, 2011 5:46 PM
2130 JD that still runs like new and ditto the rest…
Our house was built in 1880 from logs and lumber handhewn from the bush, with no building permits, lumber grading or engineering plans and it still sits rock solid against the elements.
I have a GE alarm clock/radio that I’ve had for 30 years. Every 5 years or so I needed to spray some contact cleaner in the switch, but now that I think of it, I haven’t had to do that in at least ten years.
I also have a couple of coloured markers from a college project that are over 20 years old and haven’t dried up yet…..
I have my HP12C from the 90’s with its brilliant RPN logic. Then while taking programming at school, my c++ project was to program my own RPN calculator. I still keep that code…
We have had excellent service from HP products; printers and computers. Water chilling machines are very poorly made; they don’t last. Swiss made hiking boots last a long time because you seldom wear them. They kill your feet so they can be 45 years old with only 3.1 miles on the sole.
My p38 can opener, got it in ROTC in 1979, still on my key ring and used every once in a while. And DN thinks he’s old.
I had a 48S going through college and used it daily for 10 years after until a couple of keys wore out. Then I bought a 48gII. HP had a 3rd party develop and build that unit and it was a complete piece of junk. Within a couple of months the keys were so bad it was unusable. I almost wrote HP calcs off at that point, but decided to give a 50g a try. It has been flawless for the past 3 or 4 years other than being a battery hog.
Lee Valley garden stuff is the best I’ve seen Some is still old timey brass.
I have a HP 10B business calculator that has followed me around for 23 years. Just a great machine
Fender 1959 Tremolux vaccuum tube guitar amplifier.
52 years old and it still sounds great.
The first toaster I bought when I moved away from home (my mum forced my dad to give me all of his Canadian Tire dollars to help me out) – it was a GE and lasted close to 25 years. The next one last 5 years and the one after that last less than two. I have a Oster now and it is going on 5 years so fingers crossed!!!
HP 41 is a great calc, really the first hand-held computer. Did you get the math and engineering packs for it?
HP65 from around 1985 till 2005, didnt break but got lost. A 32sII since then.
luv to hand it to geologists. the RPN baffles them.
Talking hourly clock bought at Radio Shack in 1985. New technology, had to have it. Still accurate and reliable.
Engineer’s dream, surveyor’s wet dream. I had my first in 1979, about 3 years after scientific functions became available(though expensive). The HP 48 was the pinnacle for calculators, since data collectors started doing all the calc’s. I have a low mileage 48 at home, that I’ve had offers on, but can’t bring myself to part with.
I miss mine!!!!! It died in the early 90’s. Still have it and about a dozen or so of the plug-in modules.