Re: HP 32SII Message #14 Posted by Luca on 17 Aug 2009, 11:33 a.m., in response to message #12 by Egan Ford
Interesting; I have both a 42s and a 32SII, and the one that gets all the use is the 32SII. It is ideal for the kind of quick calculations that I need to do all the time; it is one of the very few objects that has a permanent place below my PC monitor. It has a clear, legible display, and direct access to most of the functions you are likely to use.
I have a 42s, and from an engineering point of view, I admire it, but I hardly ever use it. The display is too difficult to read in the sometimes dim light I use to work at the PC, and too much of its functionality is hidden in long menus -- it is no fun at all to have to go fish in the function catalog even the %CH (percent change) function, which I use relatively often. Yes, I could program it as one of the custom soft-keys, but then I lose access to top-level key functions...
I could never warm to the 35s. The three chief drawbacks, in my opinion, are: the STO key is shifted; when you type a long number, no "," separators are inserted while you type (only after you enter it), making it difficult to enter them correctly; and it has some bugs that decrease my confidence.
So in the end I always go back to the 32SII. It is the only calculator that, when I use it, I do not wish I were using something else.
The 42s used to be the perfect design point (or close to it) in an era when access to PCs was more difficult. Nowadays, when more complex things tend to be done on PCs, I think the 32SII is the best pocket calculator there is. Simple, fast, direct, well-engineered.
Luca
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