HP Forum Archive 09

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

News from HP??? Message #1 Posted by R Lion on 10 Jan 2003, 3:36 p.m. I copy here a today's post of comp.sys.hp48. Any comment? Raul Hi all, Today, after a dialog with my distributor (hp calculators) the last news are: Well, at this time there is the possibility to get 49G with english manual, but the price is always the same one. There are also 48G+ in inventory as well as 48GX. With regard to 19BII, aprox. in Julio a new version will come. And in April the new version of 17BII is expected. And a 12C Platinum also comes, for May aprox. As for 49G with Spanish manuals, it is expected that a special production arrives in May. !!** The one that will replace to 49G, aprox will come for August **!! Those are the news and HP continues the production of 10BII, 12C, 30S. Any comments?? Best Regards!! JoGa (joga52001@hotmail.com)

I don't believe it Message #2 Posted by gene on 10 Jan 2003, 3:53 p.m., in response to message #1 by R Lion I don't think they've had enough time/resources to really do something aka an HP-49G successor. They have fewer resources now than they did in the past. They are buying and rebadging/reselling other maker's calculators as their own. How ghastly will a "platinum" HP-12C look with keys made like the HP-12C's look today? I have little to NO hope that HP will ever again produce a calculator we would really want to own. Sorry for the pessimism, but it's been earned, IMO. Gene

Re: I don't believe it Message #3 Posted by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) on 10 Jan 2003, 5:40 p.m., in response to message #2 by gene Hi, Gene; maybe they are counting on Indonesian OEM... or there is already another OEM producing calculators, like that one who produces the 9G, and 9S, and the SPR400G... Didn't Dave send those manuals there? I agree with you if you consider internal resources... Best regards.

Re: I don't believe it Message #4 Posted by Ernie Malaga on 10 Jan 2003, 6:36 p.m., in response to message #2 by gene >Sorry for the pessimism, but it's been earned, IMO. Paraphrasing the saying, "Keeping up with the industry is like rowing a boat upstream: if you don't go forward, you go backward." Regrettably, I think HP has been left way, way behind. -Ernie

Re: I don't believe it Message #5 Posted by Stan (Sg) on 11 Jan 2003, 7:59 a.m., in response to message #4 by Ernie Malaga The best that I could hope for is a HP 49G repackaged with old style HP keys (like the 48 or better), a better screen (at least remove the screen cover) and less thickness (32/42S depth would be great, but that may be too much to hope for). I would like to shrink the length and width but that would force a complete rework of the keyboard and screen. Next on my list would be a faster processor, USB connection, bigger screen, touch screen, etc... but I think it is really unlikely that any of this will happen. The 49G is a great machine ex-the physical packaging (keyboard, screen cover, etc...). If they can fix those issues, it would be a great machine. Oh yeah, one more thing - update the 48 owners manuals and include them with the new machine. Some documentation - any documentation! Heck, put it on a CD rom and charge $20 for a hard copy - I will pay, just don't sell me a 49G with a 6S users guide!

Re: I don't believe it Message #6 Posted by Randy Sloyer(US) on 11 Jan 2003, 8:14 a.m., in response to message #5 by Stan (Sg) Good point about the thickness. It is one of reasons I never liked the 48 series machines (in addition to the "designer color" keyboards). The 48G and G+ where artificially fatter than needed to use the same case as the GX. Without the GX expansion module connector, it would have fit in a Pioneer thickness case. Perhaps the batteries still might be an issue, as the 48's draw about 5-7 ma, needing the AAA cells instead of watch cells, but that should be a solvable problem with the newer batteries out there today.

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

Go back to the main exhibit hall