HP Forum Archive 16

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

HP-33S failures Message #1 Posted by Antonio Maschio (Italy) on 12 Dec 2006, 10:48 a.m. For Karl. Please, if you have some spare time, gather in a New Topic all the failures of the HP-33s that posters have listed in the Forum (you and me in the number!), so to have a precise idea of the things to do for bettering it; I wish HP will be reading! -- Antonio

Re: [updated] HP-33S failures Message #2 Posted by Karl Schneider on 12 Dec 2006, 6:48 p.m., in response to message #1 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) Hi, Antonio -- A previous bug list for the HP-33S was posted more than two years ago: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv014.cgi?read=62596#62596 Three of the five listed there are the ones mentioned in a recent thread, and were fixed by KinHPo sometime in 2005. The "Radians" bug linked in the thread is an initialization error. I don't know if that was fixed. The "Solve" bug (finding only one root) I discovered subsequently was caused by implementing logic directly from the HP-17B/27S solver. I proposed more-sophisticated logic in the same thread: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv014.cgi?read=62665#62665 You have also mentioned the estimated error of integration that differed from those of the HP-32SII. I found that the differences resulted from an implementation of the HP48G method of estimation, replacing that of the HP-15C/34C/32S/32SII, although using the same syntax. You also mentioned the "Rmdr" bug that had been discussed in 2004, Here's a link to that thread: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv014.cgi?read=53359#53359 The quick summary is that "Rmdr" functions like "MOD" on the HP-41 and HP-42. "INT/" gives results that are always consistent with those of "Rmdr". However, when the divisor and dividend are of opposite sign, the results from "INT/" are not consistent with integer division on the HP-16C or with regular division on the HP-33S using an integer-only base (HEX, OCT, BIN). For example, in octal mode, try the following: ------ HP-33S ----- -- HP-16C -- divide INT/ Rmdr divide RMD -31 ENTER 4 -6 -7 3 -6 -1 31 ENTER -4 -6 -7 -3 -6 1 (IMPORTANT: Set the word size to 36 bits and 2's complement on the HP-16C for complete consistency with the HP-33S.) Finally, there's the trigonometric bug Gerson Barbosa found, which has many manifestations, as have been discussed recently. So, that's eight operational "flaws" that I recall being discussed. A summary: Three (Polar, HMS, Comb/Perm) are bugs that have been fixed. "Radians" is an intialization error that may have been fixed. "Solve" is not a bug per se, but could be addressed by algorithmic refinements. "Integ estimated error" is not a bug, but should be addressed by improved documentation. "Rmdr" is actually "MOD"; "INT/" is consistent with MOD ("Rmdr"), but not always with proper integer division. "Trigonometrics" is indeed a bug -- fairly minor in most cases, but unacceptable nonetheless. Consolidating this into a single discussion with links will take some work. Maybe after Christmas... Regards, -- KS Edited: 14 Dec 2006, 1:26 a.m.

Re: HP-33S failures Message #3 Posted by e.young on 12 Dec 2006, 7:00 p.m., in response to message #1 by Antonio Maschio (Italy) I consider these to be failures of design that have been discussed at length rather than "bugs". 1. low quality keyboards that have buttons that go loose quickly or only respond to a perfectly centered stroke 2. poor quality displays with invisible decimal points and annoying shadows. 3. poor color schemes that make viewing secondary keyboard functions tiresome to the eyes. 4. ridiculous styling gimmicks like the chevron keys, and to be redundant, bad color choices that don't have enough contrast.

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

Go back to the main exhibit hall