Re: How do you feel about the 50g? Message #19 Posted by Mike Reed on 4 Mar 2008, 1:50 p.m., in response to message #18 by reth
Hi designut. I'm the happy owner of a 50g and i LOVE it!!!
I'll be fair, and tell you when I first got it, i thought i had wasted 117 dollars. I didn't like the "rearranged" keyboard - the enter and math-function keys are not where you expect them to be if you are used to the 48, and the enter key got really wee-tiny small. You get used to that very quickly though. I like the appearance, the size, the key feel and, MOST of all, I like the multiplicity of I/O options; USB, Serial, SD card (or mini or micro SD's in the SD adapters)up to 2gb each, and swappable(Did somebody say "unlimited storage"?), and IR port! The manual that comes with it isn't paper - it's a PDF on the CD that comes in the package. And no wonder - the dang thing is 883 pages long!!! In spite of the size of this tome, it still fails to provide detailed enough information for what you are looking for - you learn a lot by trial and error - LOTS of error. I find a paper manual to be much preferred, because it's way easier to flip back and forth in it than it is to hunt for info in the pdf. The monster is definitely electron hungry - batteries last (depending on your use, of course) about a month. Applications are numerous and getting more so constantly, just like they did for the 48; finding software for it is not a problem. With the ARM processor, your programing options are quite varied, too (rpl, sysrpl, hpgccc, etc. to name only a few) The bigger screen is much better than the predecessors, more contrast-y and less reflective, besides the obvious advantage of seeing more info displayed. It also comes with a very nice leather hard-face case with a magnetic snap to keep it closed. All in all, the longer i have it, and the more i use it, the more i like it - HP is heading in the right direction with this but they ain't totally "got there" yet - i could recommend several improvements to this machine already. I think what I really like about the 50 is that it constantly surprises me with it's capabilities: WOW! I didn't know it could do THAT too! It can - - - haven't managed to stump it with anything yet (the inverse being not necessarily true... LOL) It took me a couple of years to warm up to the 48 series; only a few months to come to appreciate the 50, but i do and will continue to carry my 42s for quick calcs for every day. I don't leave the 50 on my desk or at home; it's with me all the time, but i grew up with the 35, the 41, the 67 et al, and the 42 is closer to my heart. Just too darn convenient to be supplanted by it's newer big brother. I for one, love the new 50 and i'm looking forward to seeing what the NEXT generation of HP calcs will look like! Hope this answers your questions.
polarbear Mike
|