HP Forum Archive 16

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

HP 17bii+ solver equation question Message #1 Posted by Don Shepherd on 17 Feb 2007, 9:44 p.m. Well, with all the talk about the 17bii+, I went out and bought one today. By the way, Les, it was $80 with my Office Depot Star Teacher discount! Anyhow, why can't the Change Sign (+/-) key be included in an equation?

Re: HP 17bii+ solver equation question Message #2 Posted by John Smitherman on 17 Feb 2007, 10:34 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd Don / Les, what are your impressions of the keys on your new 17bii+'s? What are their serial numbers? Regards, John

Re: HP 17bii+ keys Message #3 Posted by Don Shepherd on 17 Feb 2007, 10:48 p.m., in response to message #2 by John Smitherman John, the keys seem fine, no skips or hard-to-press. Serial # CNA62900787.

Re: HP 17bii+ keys Message #4 Posted by Bruce Bergman on 18 Feb 2007, 1:22 a.m., in response to message #3 by Don Shepherd Same here. I was a little concerned, what with the discussion, but so far the keys feel fine and haven't missed or doubled. The display is crystal clear -- very impressive. I'm digging into the HP Solver on this thing which is -- quite happily to my surprise -- much more powerful than I thought. I'm going to have some fun with this one. :-) thanks, bruce Oh, my S/N is CNA 63401403 Edited: 18 Feb 2007, 1:22 a.m.

Re: HP 17bii+ solver equation question Message #5 Posted by bill platt on 18 Feb 2007, 12:02 a.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd There is no use for the "change sign" command in an equation. You aren't "changing" anything when you are writing an equation. Rather, you are laying down a string of characters that are interpreted based on context. Therefore the minus sign and the plus sign are all you need--just as is the case when writing with a pencil. For example: 2-3^2 is evaluated as 2 minus (3^2) 2--3^2 is evaluated as 2 plus (3^2) 2---3^2 is evaluated as 2 minus (3^2) and 2+(-3^2) is also evaluated as 2 minus (3^2) If you want to do: (-3)^2 You have to do just that! If you need to change anything, you have the cursor positioning aroows, and the <- delete key. I hope that helps!

Re: HP 17bii+ solver equation question Message #6 Posted by Don Shepherd on 18 Feb 2007, 12:10 a.m., in response to message #5 by bill platt Yeah, thanks Bill. I'm making the transition between keystroke programming and equation "programming," and I'm learning the subtle differences between the two.

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

Go back to the main exhibit hall