HP Forum Archive 18

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HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #1 Posted by Nick Taylor on 10 Jan 2008, 12:18 p.m. I've only recently started collecting HP calculators, but now appear to have: 12C (USA), 15C, 16C, 49G+, 35s, 97 and 12C Platinum. Hmmm, I am a "calcoholic" aren't I? Anyway, the reason that I got the 49G+ was that at the time, it was the most expensive and most feature rich of the range. I would assume that this mantle has passed to the 50 now? However, all of the other models I own offer keystroke programming, but as far as I can make out, the 49G+ doesn't. This coupled with the rubbish manual (I've bought other books to supplement it) and its endless functionality has actually left me with a calculator which is almost intimidating to use. So, I've gone and bought the 35s, as it does offer keystroke programming and seems easier to get the hang of. Part of me has that uneasy feeling of having bought something that I don't really need (the 12C Platinum falls into the same category there for me). Does this ring true with anyone else? I guess I could make the 49G+ do anything that I need it to, but having to create RPL programs seems more difficult than the more "macro-like" keystroke method of the 35s. Also the quality of the old 12C that I have seems far better than the modern 12C Platinum, but I figured I'd be less worried about carrying this one with me, as if it gets broken/lost/stolen I can easily replace it. This post seems a little pointless, but I was wondering if anyone else has similar thoughts? Nick

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #2 Posted by Walter B on 10 Jan 2008, 12:57 p.m., in response to message #1 by Nick Taylor Nick, you may find this topic covered many times if you scan the archives. The RPL/RPN-debate seems to be as old as this forum. HTH, Walter

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #3 Posted by Jeff O. on 10 Jan 2008, 1:39 p.m., in response to message #1 by Nick Taylor Quote: Hmmm, I am a "calcoholic" aren't I? Hmmm, I count (only) seven calculators. Practically a teetotaler as far as collectors go. Quote: ..the reason that I got the 49G+ was that at the time, it was the most expensive and most feature rich of the range. I would assume that this mantle has passed to the 50 now? The 49g+ and the 50g run the same ROM and have identical calculational capabilities when doing so. The 50g has a serial output port, which a few users need, and uses four batteries instead of three, which seems to offer no advantages. Most people (myself included) find the 50g to be better looking. Quote: ...its endless functionality has actually left me with a calculator which is almost intimidating to use. There are those that find the 50g and its RPL siblings a breeze to use. Many others express sentiments similar to yours. Quote: Does this ring true with anyone else? Yes. Quote: This post seems a little pointless... It's as "pointful" as many other things discussed here. As Walter stated, RPN vs. RPL has been the subject of much lively discussion over the years.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #4 Posted by EL on 13 Jan 2008, 12:06 p.m., in response to message #3 by Jeff O. I noticed that the 50g includes a solver for non-linear systems. I am not aware that the 49g has this (PLEASE point it out if anyone is aware of it, as my 50g is now out of commission). EL

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #5 Posted by Jeff O. on 14 Jan 2008, 12:39 p.m., in response to message #4 by EL I am not an expert on the use and functionality of the 49g, 49g+ or 50g calculators. According to this thread at comp.sys.hp48, it is possible to load ROM version 2.09 for the 49g+ and 50g into a 49g. So if the functionality you want is available in that ROM version for the 50g, it should be possible to get it on a 49g.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #6 Posted by Don Shepherd on 10 Jan 2008, 2:52 p.m., in response to message #1 by Nick Taylor Nick, like you, I love the 12c for its simplicity of programming, elegance of design, and availability! It's amazing what you can accomplish with keystroke programming on the 12c. Heck, Valentin even figured out how to play games like bridge-it and solve polynomial equations. I've taken a liking to the 17bii+ in the last year as well. While it does not offer keystroke programming, its solver lets you, effectively, program it to do the same kind of things you can do with keystroke programming on the 12c.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #7 Posted by Chan Tran on 10 Jan 2008, 2:58 p.m., in response to message #6 by Don Shepherd I have the 50G and I am still learning to use most of its functions. I have the 48's since they were introduced so user RPL programming isn't a problem. The problem is that I can't seem to find a good program to write program on the PC. Writing program on the calculator itself is a pain.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #8 Posted by George Bailey (Bedford Falls) on 10 Jan 2008, 3:30 p.m., in response to message #7 by Chan Tran Try HPUserEdit. The programmer's page is now here. Edited: 10 Jan 2008, 3:32 p.m.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #9 Posted by Gerry Schultz on 10 Jan 2008, 5:18 p.m., in response to message #8 by George Bailey (Bedford Falls) I downloaded and installed this on my XP machine last night. Even though I selected English during the install, all the words in the I/F came out in Spanish. I ended up removing the program. Has anyone else had this problem? Gerry

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #10 Posted by Jeff Kearns on 10 Jan 2008, 8:34 p.m., in response to message #9 by Gerry Schultz Gerry, I downloaded and installed v. 5.3.1.842 tonight from the Programmer's webpage as v. 4 did not work on my XP machine for some reason. Although the I/F was initially all in Spanish, all I had to do was go to the Options menu (Opciones - second last menu from the right) and choose Idiomas -> English. That should do it for you! Jeff Kearns

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #11 Posted by Dave on 16 Jan 2008, 10:58 a.m., in response to message #10 by Jeff Kearns Quote: Gerry, I downloaded and installed v. 5.3.1.842 tonight from the Programmer's webpage as v. 4 did not work on my XP machine for some reason. Although the I/F was initially all in Spanish, all I had to do was go to the Options menu (Opciones - second last menu from the right) and choose Idiomas -> English. That should do it for you! Jeff Kearns Slightly OT, but just to let you know, the English language file is incomplete in the latest version. I've done a translation for the last few versions, and just gave the author my latest. Others have done translations too, hence you see a couple of options when you change languages. Hopefully, he'll add mine in soon. In the meantime, feel free to contact me through the forum, and I'll send you the latest language file. And if you see any errors, please let me know.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #12 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 11 Jan 2008, 5:27 p.m., in response to message #1 by Nick Taylor I am a recent new user of the 48sx. I find it very difficult to use, slow, very complex, and "unintuitive", if you will. I have to get out the manual for practically everything I try to do with it. Still, I keep plugging at it, because I am intrigued by the promise of calculating power that it offers. I consider it more of a handheld computer than a calculator. But it is a lot harder to use than either my Pioneers or a Windows laptop computer.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #13 Posted by Egan Ford on 11 Jan 2008, 7:24 p.m., in response to message #12 by Martin Pinckney Quote: Still, I keep plugging at it, because I am intrigued by the promise of calculating power that it offers. Keep plugging away at it. The manuals are very good. I think you could master it over a quiet weekend. Two distinct advantages with the 48/49/50 series is I/O and emulators. You may find that if you start to use x48 or EMU48 to emulate the 48SX on your desktop you may learn it faster. The I/O will allow you to sync up the two.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #14 Posted by reth on 12 Jan 2008, 2:01 a.m., in response to message #12 by Martin Pinckney Quote: I find it very difficult to use, slow, very complex, and "unintuitive", if you will this is called steep learning curve, so should one expect from such powerful device, once you master it though it pays for the efforts so, keep going ;)

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #15 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 14 Jan 2008, 9:52 a.m., in response to message #14 by reth Egan and Reth, thanks for the encouragement. Vindication that my perseverance may indeed be worth it.

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #16 Posted by megarat on 14 Jan 2008, 11:21 a.m., in response to message #14 by reth Quote: this is called steep learning curve, so should one expect from such powerful device, once you master it though it pays for the efforts so, keep going ;) Technically, this is called a shallow learning curve. With a learning curve, the x-axis is time, and the y-axis is progress. If the learning curve is steep, that's a good thing, because it means you get up to speed in a short amount of time. (People mis-use this term all the time, and while I hate to look like a pedantic git making a semantic quibble, I figured that people might find this interesting since this forum is pretty geeky.) Cheers, -cam

Re: HP 35s vs HP 50 Message #17 Posted by Marcus von Cube, Germany on 14 Jan 2008, 11:57 a.m., in response to message #16 by megarat Quote: Technically, this is called a shallow learning curve. If you see it from the perspective of the person who has mastered it, you are right. Slow progress but still progress. If you look at it from a perspective of someone who has yet to go uphill, the amount of info to digest looks rather steep. :-)

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