Re: Q: What's better than a 15c? Message #25 Posted by Mark Edmonds on 28 July 2008, 10:48 a.m., in response to message #20 by Mike Morrow
Mike,
I agree with much of what you say, especially concerning the power of the 49 and 50 models. One of the reasons I am holding off getting a 50 right now is that I am worried it might supplant the 48G as my main machine.
However, there are some good reasons (for me), why I am still attached to the 48G and why it will continue to be my first choice.
1. The keyboard layout is not compromised by trying to support both RPN and alg. That isn't just the position and size of the enter key, it is the shifted vs non-shifted keys and labels.
2. It looks and feels to me like a real HP (of that era) whereas the later models could easily be Casio or Sharps or any brand. I like the more "industrial" designs.
3. Speed - yes, the 48G can be infuriatingly slow at times and some functions I just don't use because of this. However, for programming, it brings back that interaction you get when you can sense how a machine is working through your code and not blasting it to one side in some multi-core gigafrequency frenzy. I like being rewarded for making microscopic efficiency improvements!
4. Good battery life.
5. The 48 series isn't so completely saturated in functions as the 49/50 models so it leaves nice scope for designing and coding your own.
I am sure there are more reasons I can't think of right now. The 48G remains top of my pile but if... a very big "if", HP released a machine like the 50 in a 48 style shell with a 48 style keyboard, I would move to the new model without any hesitation.
Mark
Quote:
I bought an HP48SX when it first came out, followed by two HP48GX units when they came out. But I was never very impressed by these machines (slow, with blurred LCDs) so my HP-15C or HP-41CX continued to be my most used units. I dropped out of the HP calculator hoarding clique for about ten years.
In 2006 I bought a used HP49g+ for $20. Its programming features were very impressive to me. It was the first HP calc in a decade (other than the HP42S) that I found really interesting in terms of speed, LCD sharpness, features (including CAS), programming features (including Saturn and ARM machine level support), and SD card support. I can't understand why SD card support isn't usually emphasized when HP people contrast the HP49g+ and HP50g series to various TI offerings. It is a tremendously valuable feature.
Sure, the HP49g+ keyboard is often problematic, but the later HP50g pretty much corrected that. My three HP48 units never get used now that I have the HP50g. They are far less capable, unless you define capability only in terms of where the ENTER key is located.
Mike (HP calc user since 1972)
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