Re: HP 19B Business Consultant II Repair Message #6 Posted by Ron Ross on 19 Jan 2007, 10:51 a.m., in response to message #5 by Buck
What is his major?
The Hp19B is no longer made, but it did have both business and scientific functions that allowed it to cross over to both business and engineering.
If he is a business major, you can still buy the Hp17bii BRAND NEW off of ebay for a bit less than list for the Hp17Bii+ (Hp's newest, best financial). It is better made than todays calculators and while it only has 7K ram in comparision to the newer Hp17Bii+'s 32K, without any real I/O, the extra Ram is really worthless (Memory LOST anyone?).
If he is more scientifically inclined, either an Hp50G, Hp39G or an Hp33s.
For a pocket calculator the Hp33s is an okay calculator with an obnoxious keyboard design. I use one, but only because it is an easily replacable RPN calculator. I actually prefer to use a graphics over the Hp33s, but I also hate the obtrusively large graphics. I might even suggest an older Hp20s over the Hp33s if I had only one to choose from (The Hp20s is algebraic AOS only, and I do prefer the Hp33s as it is selectable and I do prefer RPN). The Hp33s does have a solver, but not nearly as nice as your Hp19B (the Hp17B, Hp50G and Hp39GS have the same solvers as your Hp19b as well)
If you are considering a graphics, the Hp50G does seem to be a great calculator. It is very complex compared to everything else out there (the extra power brings with it a LOT of extra complexity!). While some argue that the HP50G works well in its algebraic mode, many functions become very awkward to access and it really isn't worth it to use the Hp50G in any mode other than RPN.
If your nephew doesn't like RPN or really complex gadgets (or both), Hp's lower end Hp39G is much more similar to the Ti-83/84 line with lots of extra math functions tossed in. (It is somewhat weaker in statistical functions though, out of the box).
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