HP Forum Archive 08

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Who made the first handheld graphing calculator? Message #1 Posted by aruid on 6 May 2002, 9:03 p.m. Does anyone know who sold the first graphing calculator? Was it Sharp, HP, Casio, Or TI? I think TIs earliest graphing calculator was the TI 81 made in 1990. I think HPs earliest is the HP 28C in 1987. is there an earlier graphing calculator? ARUID

Re: Who made the first handheld graphing calculator? Message #2 Posted by Mike Sebastian (Texas) on 6 May 2002, 10:41 p.m., in response to message #1 by aruid Casio made the first graphing calculator, the fx-7000G. See US Patent 4794553 (note that the foreign priority date of May 24, 1985, is 1 1/2 years before introduction of the HP-28C).

Re: Who made the first handheld graphing calculator? Message #3 Posted by Ron Ross on 6 May 2002, 10:43 p.m., in response to message #1 by aruid I think it was Casio, then followed by the Hp28C by a few months later. I am thinking either a Casio fx-6000 series or the Casio fx-7000.

The HP41C was able to "graph"... (in a fashion) Message #4 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 7 May 2002, 5:19 p.m., in response to message #3 by Ron Ross I used to made crude graphs in the HP41C. One kind divides the function values in three ranges, and graphs more or less as: - - _ - _ - ' ' ' - The other uses "black" density of a character to suggest value (often called Schmoo Polts in the 1980s), a typical display would be: - - + - * * - + The HP41 also was able to PLOT when connected to the 82143 printer...

Re: The HP41C was able to "graph"... (in a fashion) Message #5 Posted by Tony Duell (UK) on 7 May 2002, 10:21 p.m., in response to message #4 by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) And of course the HP41 could drive the HP7470 (Opt 003 -- HPIL) plotter. There's even a 'Plotter ROM' for the HP41 which includes a program to plot a function on the plotter. But the 7470 plotter is hardly a handheld device...

Re: Who made the first handheld graphing calculator? Message #6 Posted by Ex-PPC member on 8 May 2002, 11:35 a.m., in response to message #1 by aruid It depends on how one defines 'graphing calculator'. If you mean a large graphical screen with medium to large resolution, you are probably right. But if it is defined to mean a handheld calculator with an LCD dot-matrix display where the dots are individually addressable, you could consider the HP-71B, which has a one-line, 132x8 display, and the Sharp PC-1500 (aka TRS 80 PC-2) which has a 156x7 display, though the Sharp PC-1350, a later model (though still vintage) qualifies better as it has a much larger 150x32 graphical display while being smaller and much lighter than either the HP-71B or the Sharp PC-1500.

Re: Who made the first handheld graphite calculator? Message #7 Posted by Paul Brogger on 8 May 2002, 2:45 p.m., in response to message #1 by aruid You have to go way back -- I strongly recommend "The Pencil -- A History of Design and Circumstance" (or something like that) by Henry Petroski . . . Ohhh! You asked about graphing calculators . . .

Re: Who made the first handheld graphing calculator? Message #8 Posted by Fred Lusk (CA) on 13 May 2002, 2:21 a.m., in response to message #1 by aruid The HP42S (c.1987) can graph on its two line display. HP even included a program in the user's manual to do it.

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