HP Forum Archive 16

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50g vs 48GX for Lin Alg and Prob/Stat Message #1 Posted by John McCormick on 15 Aug 2006, 11:25 p.m. I'm a newcomer to HP calculators, and I'm preparing for Linear Algebra this fall with my HP 48GX and things are going well, but I'm kind of looking for a rationalization to buy a 50g. Am I missing anything by not upgrading to the 50g from my 48GX? I haven't had the opportunity to compare my 48GX to a similar calculator such as the 49g+. I see the tech data for the 50g that it handles "symbolic matrices." I've got Probability and Statistics after Linear Algebra. Thanks.

Re: 50g vs 48GX for Lin Alg and Prob/Stat Message #2 Posted by Ron Ross on 16 Aug 2006, 8:26 a.m., in response to message #1 by John McCormick I would suggest buying an Hp49/50G for your class for two reasons. First the Speed increase for the Linear Algebra and second, the capabilities in the Prob/Stat course (xtra stat features have been added to the 49/50G series, although excellent Stat programs are available for the 48G series, so this isn't as big an issue). The equation and Matrix writer are just SO MUCH faster to use on the newer Hp49+/50G series that any course that you would make extensive use of these features would make the purchase of the Hp49/50G a good investment.

Re: 50g vs 48GX for Lin Alg and Prob/Stat Message #3 Posted by Norris on 18 Aug 2006, 12:16 a.m., in response to message #1 by John McCormick The computer algebra system of the 50G is much faster and more powerful than that of the 48GX. It's true that you can greatly improve the symbolic math capabilities of the 48GX by adding memory cards and installing the free ALG48 and ERABLE libraries. However, 48GX memory cards are so expensive that it's probably more cost-effective to buy a 50G. The 50G is also much faster.

Re: 50g vs 48GX for Lin Alg and Prob/Stat Message #4 Posted by Eric Smith on 19 Aug 2006, 11:01 p.m., in response to message #1 by John McCormick I just took a linear algebra class this summer, and used a 49G+ extensively for it, I'd highly recommend either the 49G+ or 50G over the 48GX. They have more features directly applicable to linear algebra. I spent a bunch of time writing my own program to find the nullspace of a matrix, because I didn't yet know that the "KERNEL" function would do that for me. Oh well, it was fun and educational. I also wrote my own functions to find adjoints, minors, and cofactors, but there are libraries you can download from hpcalc.org to do that. If I get into the degree program I'm applying for, I'll have to take upper division linear algebra. At least the community college course I just took will give me a head start on it.

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