Re: How many calculators do you have? Message #50 Posted by Valentin Albillo on 23 May 2007, 7:03 a.m., in response to message #49 by Karl Schneider
Hi, Karl:
Nice collection you have, but I've noticed some unexpectedly missing models, IMHO, namely:
HP: HP-25/25C, HP-67, HP-28S
The HP-67 I can understand, as it's a most difficult model to get, but HP-25 and HP-28S are both quite affordable, and both deserve to be collected, owned, used. If you haven't still read my "Long Live the HP-25!" on-line PDF article (freely available for download at my calc web site), please do, so that you can see for yourself why I'm being so enthusiastic about this particular model and why it is such a worthwhile, oustanding calc.
As for the HP-28S, I see you've got two 28C, so it might seem redundant to own one. However, the 28C was so incredibly limited by its ridiculous RAM (relatively much worse than an HP-41C with no RAM modules) that you really couldn't use its many revolutionary capabilities to the fullest, far from it, while you can with the 28S model and its 32 Kb RAM (vs about 1.5 Kb for the 28C).
As you know, I don't like RPL at all, but the 28S is the one and only RPL model in my collection because of its revolutionary nature and because it's obvious that a lot of thought and love were put into its design. But in order to fully realize its potential it absolutely needs RAM, which the 28C simply utterly lacks. Get a 28S, and enjoy dealing with large symbolic expressions, large
complex-valued matrices, and many-term Taylor series expansions, while learning or practicing RPL in a comfy environment to your heart's content, with no annoying "Low RAM!"-type messages constantly appearing and ruining your concentration and ultimately your enjoying this calc.
As for other makes, I'm really surprised that you don't have any BASIC-programmable SHARP handhelds at all, nor any of the really beautiful early alphanumeric fully-algebraic calculators, such as the EL-5100 or EL-5101. I would very heartily suggest that you try and get some of them, namely:
SHARP: PC-1211 (or 1212), PC-1262 (or 1261,1260),
PC-1360 (or 1350), PC-1403H, PC-1475
PC-E500S (or E500), PC-1421 (financial!)
Some of these are very easy and inexpensive to get (PC-1350/60,
for instance), others are less so (PC-1421), but all of them
are revolutionary in some aspect, in ways that HP models of
the time weren't, while HPs had of course other high-points
that some of these SHARP models lack.
All in all, both makes are highly complementary, and I guess that such a
connoisseur as yourself would be very pleased to get to know
and own some of these SHARPs, you'll probably be amazed at what you've
been missing ! :-)
Best regards from V.
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