HP-14B 50th Anniversary business calculator with case

The History of the Hewlett-Packard HP-14B Calculator

The Hewlett-Packard HP-14B is a Pioneer-series business calculator introduced October 31, 1988 (code name Midas). List was about $70-$80. It is algebraic / chain logic, not RPN: menus and a COMPUTE key instead of a four-level stack. In the MicroBasement it sits with the HP-35, HP-25, and HP-41CV as the finance box of that generation, not the scientific one.

The Creator: Hewlett-Packard

HP's Advanced Products Division built the Pioneer family after the Voyager (12C / 15C) and the HP-41. The 14B sat between the cheaper 10B and the 17B / 19B, which added a solver and more memory. A 1989 50th-anniversary 14B existed for employees and shareholders; same machine, extra logos.

Development and Introduction

Shipped late 1988. Production ran into the early 1990s (about 1993). One-line 12-character alphanumeric LCD, continuous memory, three button cells. No IR printer port and no plug-in modules like the 41. The point was TVM and cash-flow worksheets a banker could learn without RPN.

Machine Specifications

Business Functions

Move to the unknown on a worksheet and press COMPUTE. That is the 14B's trick, not a program step list like the 25 or 41.

Impact and Legacy

The 12C kept RPN finance. The 14B was HP trying the same problems in a menu calculator for people who had never seen ENTER. The 17BII and later 10bII / 12C Platinum outlived it. In the MicroBasement it is the Pioneer business sibling of the 35 / 25 / 41 set: same company, different keyboard language.

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