HP revives the HP-16C, the programmer's calculator from 1982

HP has reissued the HP-16C, a calculator originally released in 1982 and aimed squarely at programmers and computer scientists. The device handles arithmetic and bitwise operations across hex, octal, binary, and decimal, with configurable word sizes and signed/unsigned modes — features that made the original a cult favorite among low-level developers working close to the metal.

The new Collector’s Edition preserves the original Voyager-series form factor and RPN entry, targeting the nostalgia market and longtime HP enthusiasts who have spent years bidding up used units on the secondhand market. For working engineers, most of the 16C’s functionality is trivially available in software, but the physical keyboard layout and dedicated bit-manipulation keys remain something modern calculator apps rarely replicate well.

The re-release fits a broader pattern of vendors mining their back catalogs for hardware that retains a devoted user base, following similar moves with the HP-15C and HP-12C reissues.