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.

Over 100 built-in functions

Algebraic data entry

Intuitive keyboard layout with easy-to-read labels

Adjustable contrast display

1-year warranty

Average Customer Review: ( 228 customer reviews )
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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.

46 of 50 found the following review helpful:

Adequate, even good, but certainly not the best ever.Oct 22, 2002

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 63 found the following review helpful:

A compromise onlyMay 25, 2002
By Christina Borsum
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.

21 of 23 found the following review helpful:

Dissappointing quality and keypadAug 27, 2004
By Peter Dickinson
I bought this calculator because I wanted a 12 digit display, comma separators for multiples of a thousand, and some standard financial functions, all in a form small enough to slip in a jacket pocket. I didn't find any other brand offering a calculator with these features and I thought that HP had a good reputation.

I was very dissappointed. The keys required a lot of pressure to work and I often had to redo calculations because I had keyed too fast and one or more keys hadn't registered.

Then after a year the screen stopped working properly. I was actually pleased about this because it meant that I could replace the calculator without feeling guilty!

I'm afraid I would not recommend it to anyone.

21 of 23 found the following review helpful:

Junk, just junkMay 23, 2002

For quite a while I used the HP 10B which was a fine machine -and then I misplaced it. I bought the 10B-II to replace it and found that it is really not at all the same machine. There are at least two ways in which the 10B-II is so bad as to be properly described as junk.

First, the movement of the keys is very poor... If you don't press a key with just the right pressure it will either not register or will register twice. This makes the calculator very hard to use because you have to go very slowly or you will make an error (and not know that you did).

Second, the positions of some of the keys have been moved; it is now very easy to erase all the memories accidentially. The "clear entry" and the "clear all memories" are the same button and if one happens to touch the shift key first all the stored information will be erased! If you spend some time doing a project (or filling out your tax return) you probably will accidentally erase all the numbers you have stored and find it necessary to begin again.

I may add that the 10B-II shares one error with its fine predecessor: If you perform a regression the machine will calculate predicted values of x as well as y using the same equation. This is mathematically incorrect, and the people who designed this machine should have known better.

After some months I happened to locate my misplaced 10B and the above comments are based on a side-by-side comparison of the two. The 10B is very nice -smooth movement of the keys which makes it very easy to use and accurate. If you happen to see a 10B buy it -but avoid the 10b-II -it is unworthy of the Hewlett-Packard name.

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