Vintage-45

Until I purchased Vintage-45 I always preferred a physical calculator to any iPhone calculator app. I own several physical HP models (HP 55, 11C, 12C, 35S, 48G), with the HP 55 (still working after 45 years!) being my favorite until now. Vintage-45 is about as perfect a simulation of an HP 45 as you’re going to find. Most of the differences are actually improvements over the original - smaller, lighter, faster (if you enable high speed mode), greater accuracy, and much better battery life than the original. The lack of physical keys has not been an issue at all, which was something of a surprise to me. Kudos to HP for a keyboard design so good that it even works on a flat screen! My only complaint is with the original HP 45 itself, not the simulation. HP hadn’t quite worked out how to manage the display, and decided to display small numbers (smaller than the display mode allows) simply as 0 when in fixed point mode. As a result you get weird effects like -1.2345E-20 displayed in FIX mode as -0.00. Of course you can always switch to SCI and see the true number. Once you understand what’s going on it makes sense but it’s confusing at first. Later HP calculators fixed this issue (nonzero numbers too small for fixed point automatically display in scientific notation, a much more intuitive way of doing it). But it’s interesting to see how the HP 45 approached the issue and the associated pitfalls. I considered the -SD version of this app but I think it’s way overdone (though I admit I haven’t tried it). The Vintage-45 version is just right in my opinion, and I usually reach for it now instead of the stalwart HP 55. Bravo Cuveesoft for a job well done!

This is s great simulation of my favorite calculator (still have working unit in plastic box with manual and charger) BUT the touchscreen stopped working on my 13 Pro Max when I upgraded to v 15.1.1 today! Have rebooted to no avail. Hope you check this out!

This was the most amazing calculator available in its day at a staggering $400! This app is so exact that my heart rate goes up whenever I fire it up. Such wonderful memories, complete with the red led display and the great sound.

When I was going to school I could not afford the HP-45’s I had to soldier on using an HP-35. I was able to borrow them on occasion. This emulation comes as close to the actual device as you are going to get. In the larger iPhones it is even about the same size. I still enjoy the look on peoples faces when I explain what RPN stands for.

And by the way, I love this app! I use it several times every day, it’s my only calculator except for a physical HP 12-C that lives in my briefcase and hardly ever gets used. I’ve been an HP fanboy since the 35, RPN is so pleasant to use. And having it on iOS is the best of both worlds.

Wonderful app! I would love an equally good HP-67 for iPhone. I have it for iPad, but not for my phone. It would be nice if the volume adjustment stayed set rather than needing to be reset each time the app starts.

I'vre been using a real HP-45 since 1973. When use it at my desk all the time, but I sure miss it on the road. Problem solved, thanks to Willy Kunz. Great job!

My favorite calculator app for iPhone. Love it!

...to see my old trusty HP-45 calculator in the display of my iPhone. If you weren't using calculators back in the early seventies, you might not appreciate this feeling. Somehow, I miss those light diode displays; they are just somehow cozier than the cold segmented LED's you see in today's $8 calculators stuffed in cardboard display units at the local Best Buy. The developer's HP-45 app for the iPad offers more features - including five magnitudes of faster calculating speed, and it's presentation isn't a bit squished like this app. But the HP-45 was a HAND-held calculator intended for your pocket, and when was the last time you put your iPad in your pocket? Be sure to visit the developer's web site where you'll find a abbreviated manual and lots of facts about the HP-45 and how you can use this calculator to accomplish a surprising amount of calculating. In summary, it isn't very fast (the HP-45 wasn't either), but back in the seventies it was just sort of amazing it existed at all (kind of like today's iPhone and iPad). For a buck, the Vintage-45 is a little side-trip down memory lane, at least for us aging geeks.