Re: HP33S Manual Is Here!!! Message #20 Posted by Valentin Albillo on 9 Nov 2003, 2:06 a.m., in response to message #1 by Katie
Katie posted:
"It's sort of a disappointment in that it's a near exact 32SII clone with 32K bytes (that's right BYTES!) of memory. But you can only use that memory for programs
and equations, not registers (not even indirectly)."
Let's see if I've understood it correctly ... are you saying that KinHPo has 'upgraded' the 32SII with an amazing 32 Kbytes of RAM, yet you can't have more than 26 or so data registers, so that you can handle matrices only up to 5x5 !?
Because most of my vintage SHARPs, even models much smaller in size than the 33S, can easily define in excess of 1,000 data registers or matrix elements (10 Kb), my incredibly small Casio FX-7500G (easily the smallest calc I own, despite its 8 lines x 16 char graphics screen) can allocate as many as 526 memories (3.9 Kb), and even my superb, 20-year old HP-15C (0.5 Kb) can handle 8x8 matrices.
If true, this does nothing but reinforce my point: there's no enjoyment nor pride in owning such a calculator, as we are painfully aware of just how little thought and effort have been invested in creating it.
Do you think the great HP engineer teams of the past, which painstakingly fine-tuned every feature of the calcs they designed to ensure utterly optimum performance for their intended professional customers, would've ever designed something like this ? 32 Kb for programs, yet no I/O and you can handle just 25-30 data elements ? Wouldn't have they felt completely ashamed if such a glaring case of bad engineering and careless design had slipped by ?
I rest my case: the former valued, respected, professional customers that we once were have yet again been absolutely neglected by KinHPo, which will only strive to maximize their profits by releasing sub-sub-optimal products, where noone has invested any time at all to try and improve neither features nor quality. It was easier to copy-paste the 32SII ROM and manual, add a little here and there, and that's all. So the user cannot use those 32 Kb for data ? Who cares ? After all, neither could the HP-12C Platinum user use those 400 bytes for extra registers. We're including a 32 Kb RAM chip because it costs next to nothing nowadays, but making firmware modifications so the user can actually use it *does* cost money, so there you are, take it or leave it.
Proud of owning such a state-of-the-art, quality product ? Enjoyment ?
Not me. This only adds insult to injury.
Best regards from V.
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